Pyelonephritis and Bacteriuria: A Major Problem in Preventive Medicine

Abstract

Article1 January 1962Pyelonephritis and BacteriuriaA Major Problem in Preventive MedicineEDWARD H. KASS, M.D., PH.D., F.A.C.P.EDWARD H. KASS, M.D., PH.D., F.A.C.P.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-56-1-46 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptThe changing pattern of infectious disease is well illustrated in the problem of pyelonephritis. In the past, clinically important infections were due largely to microorganisms that were "caught," that is, were not indigenous to the host. Socioeconomic patterns played important roles in determining the prevalence and pathogenesis of such infections. Now, increasing numbers of infections are due to Gram-negative rods, staphylococci, enterococci, and similar microorganisms that are not "caught" in the usual sense of the word, but are constantly present within the host. The presence of such organisms, and their capacity to cause clinical disease, seem to be influenced less...References1. LONGCOPEWINKENWERDER WTWL: Clinical features of contracted kidney due to pyelonephritis. Bull. Johns Hopkins Hosp. 53: 255, 1933. Google Scholar2. WEISSPARKER SF: Pyelonephritis—its relation to vascular lesions and to arterial hypertension. Medicine 18: 221, 1939. CrossrefGoogle Scholar3. MACDONALDLEVITINMALLORYKASS RAHGKEH: Relation between pyelonephritis and bacterial counts in the urine. An autopsy study. New Engl. J. Med. 256: 764, 1957. CrossrefGoogle Scholar4. KASS EH: Chemotherapeutic and antibiotic drugs in the management of infections of the urinary tract. Amer. J. Med. 18: 764, 1955. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. KASS EH: Asymptomatic infections of the urinary tract. Trans. Ass. Amer. Physicians 69: 56, 1956. MedlineGoogle Scholar6. SANFORDFAVOURMAOHARRISON JPCBFNJH: Evaluation of "positive" urine culture. An approach to the differentiation of significant bacteria from contamination. Amer. J. Med. 20: 88, 1956. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. JACKSONGRIEBLEKNUDSON GGHGKB: Urinary findings diagnostic of pyelonephritis. J. A. M. A. 166: 14, 1958. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. MONZONORYDOBSONCARTERYOW OTEMHCEEM: A comparison of bacterial counts of the urine obtained by needle aspiration of the bladder, catheterization and midstream voided methods. New Engl. J. Med. 259: 764, 1958. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. KASS EH: The role of asymptomatic bacteriuria in the pathogenesis of pyelonephritis, in Biology of Pyelonephritis, ed. by Quinn, E. L., and Kass, E. H., Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1960. Google Scholar10. KASS EH: Bacteriuria and the diagnosis of infections of the urinary tract with observations on the use of methionine as a urinary antiseptic. Arch. Intern. Med. 100: 709, 1957. CrossrefGoogle Scholar11. KUNINSOUTHALLPAQUIN CIAJ: Epidemiology of urinary tract infections. A pilot study of 3057 school children. New Engl. J. Med. 263: 817, 1960. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar12. HOEPRICH PD: Correlation of culture and sediment findings in urinary tract infections. J. Clin. Invest. 40: 1049, 1961. Google Scholar13. KASSMIALLSTUART EHWEKL: Relationship of bacteriuria to hypertension: an epidemiological study. J. Clin. Invest. 40: 1053, 1961. Google Scholar14. KAITZ AL: in Biology of Pyelonephritis, ed. by Quinn, E. L., and Kass, E. H., Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1960, p. 415. Google Scholar15. VIVALDIZANGWILLCOTRANKASS EDPREH: Experimental pyelonephritis consequent to induction of bacteriuria, in Biology of Pyelonephritis, ed. by Quinn, E. L., and Kass, E. H., Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1960. Google Scholar16. ZAHLBJERKNES PAC: Induction of deciduaplacental hemorrhage in mice by endotoxins of certain Gram-negative bacteria. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 54: 329, 1943. CrossrefGoogle Scholar17. RIEDERTHOMAS RFL: Studies on the mechanisms involved in the production of abortion by endotoxin. J. Immunol. 84: 189, 1960. MedlineGoogle Scholar18. KASS EH: Effect of corticosteroids and of hormones of pregnancy on the lethal action of bacterial endotoxin. Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 88: 107, 1960. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Boston, MassachusettsFrom the Mallory Institute of Pathology, Thorndike Memorial Laboratory and the Second and Fourth (Harvard) Medical Services, Boston City Hospital, and the Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.Presented at the Forty-second Annual Session of The American College of Physicians, Miami Beach, Florida, May 8-12, 1961.Aided by grants from the National Institutes of Health, United States Public Health Service.Requests for reprints should be addressed to Edward H. Kass, M.D., The Boston City Hospital, 818 Harrison Avenue, Boston 18, Massachusetts. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails