Abstract

NITROFURANTOIN SENSITIVITY PATTERN PAN INDIA

Dr. Mohit Agrawal* and Prof. Ashok Rattan

Abstract

The prevalence of urinary tract infections (UTIs) varies from 21.8% to 31.3% in various parts of the country. The most common pathogens causing UTIs in the descending order of their prevalence include Escherichia coli (45.12%), Klebsiella spp. (18.17%) and Enterococcus spp. (9.23%). Nitrofurantoin was categorized as an A-I antibiotic for treating UTIs as per the IDSA guidelines, while nitrofurantoin 100 mg tablet dosage form was added to the WHO model list of essential medicines since 2013. The major strength of nitrofurantoin is its action at multiple sites and levels which helped the drug to maintain an excellent level of sensitivity over six decades of clinical practice besides being well tolerated for treating acute uncomplicated cystitis. In this review, we tried to analyse, from all the recent accessible and available clinical studies, nitrofurantoin sensitivity pattern across various parts of India, while also comparing it with the sensitivity of other commonly used antimicrobials. We have found that not only has nitrofurantoin retained excellent sensitivity to the most common uropathogens across India, but also stands out to be the antimicrobial of choice when considering other parameters like oral route of administration, safety profile and cost-effectiveness in the management of UTIs.

Keywords: Escherichia coli (45.12%), Klebsiella spp. (18.17%) and Enterococcus spp. (9.23%).