Guidance
This guideline sets out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for preventing recurrent urinary tract infections in children, young people and adults who do not have a catheter. It aims to optimise antibiotic use and reduce antibiotic resistance.
See a 2-page visual summary of the recommendations, including a table to support prescribing decisions.
Recommendations
This guideline includes recommendations on:
- referral and seeking specialist advice
- treatment for women who are not pregnant
- treatment for men and pregnant women
- treatment for children and young people under 16 years
- reassessment
- self-care
- choice of antibiotic prophylaxis
Who is it for?
- Health professionals
- People with recurrent urinary tract infection, their families and carers
Is this guideline up to date?
August 2022: We have checked this guideline and plan to update it. The update will focus on methenamine hippurate as prophylaxis against recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTIs). For more information see the surveillance decision. See the guideline in development page for progress on the update.
Guideline development process
How we develop NICE guidelines
NICE worked with Public Health England to develop this guidance.
Your responsibility
The recommendations in this guideline represent the view of NICE, arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. When exercising their judgement, professionals and practitioners are expected to take this guideline fully into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients or the people using their service. It is not mandatory to apply the recommendations, and the guideline does not override the responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardian.
All problems (adverse events) related to a medicine or medical device used for treatment or in a procedure should be reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency using the Yellow Card Scheme.
Local commissioners and providers of healthcare have a responsibility to enable the guideline to be applied when individual professionals and people using services wish to use it. They should do so in the context of local and national priorities for funding and developing services, and in light of their duties to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to reduce health inequalities. Nothing in this guideline should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with complying with those duties.
Commissioners and providers have a responsibility to promote an environmentally sustainable health and care system and should assess and reduce the environmental impact of implementing NICE recommendations wherever possible.