Vaccinations in Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections - An Observation Study Relating to Health Economy

Background and Purpose: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections in women. Despite the need for therapy alternatives only the conventional treatment using antibiotics is investigated in the literature. A vaccination, however, can be a useful medical and economic alternative for the treatment of recurrent urinary tract infections. Materials and Methods: An open, prospective, not-randomised, multicentric observation study was carried out to determine the costs and effects of a vaccination in 842 patients with recurrent urinary tract infections. The data for efficacy, safety and costs of recurrent urinary tract infections were collected via patient documentation and a standardised documentation of the physicians. Results: The efficacy was rated as good to very good by 82.7% of the physicians and 82.1% of the patients. The values for safety show even better results. They were rated as good to very good by 92.4% of the physicians and 90.9% of the patients. The total costs amounted to 433 (sic) per patient in the six months before vaccination and decreased significantly to 238 (sic) in the six months after vaccination (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The results of this observation study show a clinically relevant reduction of recurrent urinary tract infections with acceptable side effects in the six months after vaccination. As the treatment costs are reduced from a mean of 238 (sic) to 91 (sic) per patient. The healthcare insurances can also benefit from the vaccination against recurrent urinary tract infections.