Abstract

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is the second most common healthcare associated infections (HCAI) in England. The HCAI prevalence survey data (2011) released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) shows that UTI’s are the second most common HCAI accounting for 17.2% of the total HCAI’s in England. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella and Proteus are Gram negative bacteria frequently associated with UTI's. More HCAI's are related to the use of urinary catheters than any other medical device. An estimated 450,000 people in the UK use catheters on a long-term basis. Uropathogens are known to form biofilms on catheters causing recurrent infections. Biofilms are difficult to eradicate due to decreased antibiotic susceptibility and increased resistance. A recent study has found the presence of Acanthamoeba in urine of critically ill patients. The ubiquitous protozoan Acanthamoeba, is an opportunistic pathogen well recognised to serve as a reservoir for prokaryotes. Our recent findings (unpublished) confirm that the above mentioned bacteria can invade, survive and multiply within Acanthamoeba evading host defence and antibiotic action by forming cysts. It is our intention to investigate the presence of Acanthamoeba in urine samples collected from patients.