Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
8.7
4.6
Journals
Antibiotics
Special Issues
Urinary Tract Infections: Diagnosis, Etiology, Antibiotic Treatment, and Current Trends...
share announcement

Urinary Tract Infections: Diagnosis, Etiology, Antibiotic Treatment, and Current Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Antibiotic Therapy in Infectious Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 1686

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Michael Mihailov Petrov

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology "Prof. Elissay Yanev", Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Plovdiv, 15A, "Vassil Aprilov" Blvd, 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Interests: urinary tract infections (UTIs); microbiological diagnosis; antimicrobial resistance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect any component of the urinary system, including the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. They are most commonly caused by bacteria, but can also be caused by fungi and, in rare cases, viruses. UTIs are among the most prevalent infections in clinical practice worldwide, accounting for a substantial number of medical consultations and hospitalizations, all of which entail major treatment expenses. The most common causes of UTIs are Gram-negative bacteria from the “Enterobacterales” order. The propensity of prevalent uropathogens to rapidly develop antibiotic resistance adds to the increasing prevalence and severity of these infections. Multiple mechanisms are available for Gram-negative bacteria to pass on and rapidly acquire new resistance genes. The appropriate management of urinary tract infections entails monitoring the epidemiology, etiological structure, antibiotic resistance, and antimicrobial use (as empirical and etiological therapy), all of which are supported by substantial available data. Studying the epidemiological dissemination of the pathogens responsible for UTIs is critically important for tracking the circulating resistotypes at the local and regional levels. Moreover, trends in antimicrobial resistance among uropathogens influence the selection of antibiotics in response to drug resistance patterns and are crucial in the strategies tailoring increasing antimicrobial resistance worldwide.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Current trends in urinary tract infections’ diagnosis, epidemiology, etiology, antibiotic treatment, and antimicrobial resistance patterns.

Dr. Michael Mihailov Petrov
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • urinary tract infections (UTIs)
  • etiology
  • epidemiology
  • microbiological diagnosis
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • treatment
  • molecular genetic methods
  • resistotypes
  • rapid identification
  • uropathogens

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 3279 KB  
Article
Epidemiological Evidence Supports the Role of Microbial Interactions in Polymicrobial UTI Infections Revealed by In Vitro Research
by Gabriella Piatti, Alessandro Mannini, Alberto Vitale, Marco Bruzzone, Anna Maria Schito and Marcello Ceppi
Antibiotics 2025, 14(10), 1028; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14101028 - 14 Oct 2025
Viewed by 540
Abstract
Background: Molecular techniques for microbial identification have highlighted the relevance of polymicrobial infections in humans, such as those affecting the urinary tract. Although in vitro investigations have demonstrated connections between co-infections and microbial interaction, their role is unclear in clinics, given the [...] Read more.
Background: Molecular techniques for microbial identification have highlighted the relevance of polymicrobial infections in humans, such as those affecting the urinary tract. Although in vitro investigations have demonstrated connections between co-infections and microbial interaction, their role is unclear in clinics, given the overlap with host conditions. Objective: We aimed to separate the roles of organisms and patient conditions in human polymicrobial urinary samples by performing a relevant epidemiological analysis. Methods: We analyzed retrospective results from urine cultures performed during one year in a 1200 beds Italian hospital. Patients were grouped as uncompromised and compromised and positive urine cultures were grouped as monomicrobial and polymicrobial. We assessed associations between single microorganisms and the groups of positive samples and between single microorganisms and the group of patients through a multivariate logistic regression model, adjusting by the confounding effect of seven variables. Results: We enrolled 24,067 urine samples, among which 7208 were positive, 75% monomicrobial and 25% polymicrobial. We found that the polymicrobial samples had a microbial scenario wider than the monomicrobial ones and the organisms most sampled had the highest number of different pairwise associations. Certain organisms shown having absolute numerical advantages in the polymicrobial urine cultures with respect to the monomicrobial ones, independently of host’s conditions. Conclusions: The numerical advantage shown by certain organisms in polymicrobial urine samples over monomicrobial samples supports the hypothesis of microbial synergies favouring the occurrence of certain co-infections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urinary Tract Infections: Diagnosis, Etiology, Antibiotic Treatment, and Current Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 1817 KB  
Article
Urinary Tract Infections in a Single-Center Bulgarian Hospital: Trends in Etiology, Antibiotic Resistance, and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic (2017–2022)
by Milena Yancheva Rupcheva, Kostadin Kostadinov, Yordan Kalchev, Petya Gardzheva, Eli Hristozova, Zoya Rachkovska, Gergana Lengerova, Andreana Angelova, Marianna Murdjeva and Michael M. Petrov
Antibiotics 2025, 14(10), 982; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14100982 - 30 Sep 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 887
Abstract
Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common hospital- and community-acquired infections, creating a substantial healthcare burden due to recurrence, complications, and rising antimicrobial resistance. Accurate diagnosis and timely antimicrobial therapy are essential. This study aimed to identify trends in [...] Read more.
Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common hospital- and community-acquired infections, creating a substantial healthcare burden due to recurrence, complications, and rising antimicrobial resistance. Accurate diagnosis and timely antimicrobial therapy are essential. This study aimed to identify trends in the etiology, treatment, and resistance patterns of UTIs through a retrospective analysis of urine isolates processed at the Laboratory of Microbiology at University Hospital St. George in Plovdiv, the largest tertiary care and reference microbiology center in Bulgaria, between 2017 and 2022. Materials and Methods: A retrospective single-center study was performed at the hospital’s Microbiology Laboratory. During the study period, 74,417 urine samples from 25,087 hospitalized patients were screened with the HB&L UROQUATTRO system. Positive specimens were cultured on blood agar, Eosin-Methylene Blue, and chromogenic media. Identification was performed using biochemical assays, MALDI-TOF MS, and the Vitek 2 Compact system. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing included disk diffusion, MIC determination, broth microdilution (for colistin), and Vitek 2 Compact, interpreted according to EUCAST standards. Descriptive analysis and temporal resistance trends were evaluated with regression models, and interrupted time-series analysis was applied to assess COVID-19-related effects. Results: Out of 10,177 isolates, Gram-negative bacteria predominated (73%), with Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis as the leading pathogens. Among Gram-positives, Enterococcus faecalis was the most frequent. In the post-COVID-19 period, ESBL production increased in E. coli (34–38%), K. pneumoniae (66–77%), and P. mirabilis (13.5–24%). Carbapenem resistance rose in K. pneumoniae (to 40.6%) and P. aeruginosa (to 24%), while none was detected in E. coli. Colistin resistance increased in K. pneumoniae but remained absent in E. coli and P. aeruginosa. High-level aminoglycoside resistance in E. faecalis was stable (~70%), and vancomycin resistance in E. faecium rose from 4.6% to 8.9%. Conclusions: Both community- and hospital-acquired UTIs in Southeastern Bulgaria are increasingly linked to multidrug-resistant pathogens, particularly ESBL-producing and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales. Findings from the region’s largest referral center highlight the urgent need for continuous surveillance, rational antibiotic use, and novel therapeutic approaches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urinary Tract Infections: Diagnosis, Etiology, Antibiotic Treatment, and Current Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop