Scientific Calendar April 2026

Clinical scenario

Patients presenting to the emergency department with symptoms of a systemic urinary tract infection (UTI) require rapid diagnostic assessment and timely treatment. Urine samples can be analysed using the UF-5000 to determine the presence of bacteriuria. Patients with confirmed bacteriuria are typically admitted to hospital and started on empiric intravenous antibiotic therapy.

The efficacy of treatment may be monitored after approximately 12 hours using follow-up flow cytometric measurements. If therapy proves effective, patients may be switched to oral antibiotics as part of antimicrobial stewardship strategies, enabling earlier hospital discharge and potential cost savings. In addition, early changes in bacterial counts may help predict treatment failure one to three days before culture results become available. These considerations raise the question of whether the UF-Series can support the monitoring of treatment efficacy in patients with systemic UTI.

Case example – non-optimal treatment response

A 79-year-old female patient with a urinary catheter presented to the emergency department with symptoms of acute, recurrent cystitis. Analysis of a urine sample using the UF-5000 revealed high bacterial counts. The identified uropathogen was Serratia marcescens.

Initial empiric treatment with Cefuroxime administered intravenously proved to be non-optimal due to resistance. The therapy was subsequently optimised by switching to intravenous Ceftriaxone, which was appropriate for combatting the pathogen. Early optimisation of treatment, initiated before final microbiological results were available, contributed to an improved patient outcome.

Case example – optimal treatment response

A 56-year-old female patient presented to the emergency department with symptoms of acute, recurrent cystitis. Analysis of a urine sample using the UF-5000 showed high bacterial counts. The identified uropathogen was Escherichia coli, confirmed through a 72-hour microbiology workflow.

Empiric intravenous therapy with Cefuroxime was initiated and resulted in an excellent clinical response. Following stabilisation, treatment was switched to oral therapy as part of an antimicrobial stewardship measure. This step supported early hospital discharge and contributed to cost savings.

UF-5000 bacteria channel scattergrams demonstrating the successful disappearance of the patient’s bacteriuria. The corresponding table lists the complete urinalysis results; figures highlighted in red reflect the subsiding infection.

Potential to improve UTI management for hospitalised patients

In addition to the above case examples, the below table highlights three examples for each of the two scenarios of optimal and non-optimal treatment response, respectively.

The insights from this case series led to proposing the below clinical workflow for the early management and monitoring of patients presenting with symptoms of systemic urinary tract infection (UTI). Patients admitted to the emergency department undergo rapid urinalysis using fluorescence flow cytometry to detect and quantify bacteriuria. In cases of confirmed bacteriuria and clinical suspicion of systemic infection, patients are admitted to hospital and empirically treated with intravenous antibiotics.

Follow-up flow cytometric analysis is performed after approximately 12–24 hours to evaluate changes in bacterial counts and to assess treatment response. A reduction in bacteriuria may indicate effective therapy and support early optimisation of treatment, such as switching from intravenous to oral antibiotics as part of antimicrobial stewardship strategies. Conversely, persistent or increasing bacterial counts may suggest treatment failure and prompt early therapeutic adjustment before conventional culture and susceptibility testing results become available.