Laboratory diagnosis of urinary tract infections: Towards a BILULU consensus guideline

J Microbiol Methods. 2018 Mar:146:92-99. doi: 10.1016/j.mimet.2018.02.006. Epub 2018 Feb 7.

Abstract

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are very common throughout life and account for the majority of the workload in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Clear instructions for the interpretation of urine cultures by the laboratory technicians are indispensable to obtain standardized, reliable, and clinically useful results. In literature, there is often a lack of evidence-based practice in processing urinary samples in the laboratory. In this consensus document, the BILULU Study Group presents a practical approach for the implementation of existing guidelines for the culture of urine in the microbiology laboratory and offers answers for issues where no clear solution is available in the guidelines.

Keywords: BILULU; Guidelines; Urinary tract infections; Uropathogens.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Bacteria / classification
  • Bacteria / pathogenicity
  • Clinical Laboratory Techniques / methods*
  • Clinical Laboratory Techniques / standards*
  • Colony Count, Microbial / methods
  • Colony Count, Microbial / standards
  • Fungi / classification
  • Fungi / pathogenicity
  • Guidelines as Topic
  • Humans
  • Leukocytes
  • Microbiological Techniques / methods
  • Microbiological Techniques / standards
  • Microbiota
  • Pyuria / diagnosis
  • Specimen Handling / methods
  • Specimen Handling / standards
  • Urinary Tract Infections / diagnosis*
  • Urine / microbiology