Patient Profiles & Testimonials

What are you going to see in this patient testimonials’ video?


Watch testimonials of 28 patients across Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland, Poland and Russia

My experience with cystitis

Managing cystitis

Antibiotics, allies or enemies

Preventing infections

Meet Anushka

postmenopausal woman urinary tract infection patient story

Anushka (74)* – a postmenopausal woman

  • A 74-year-old patient presented with a long history of recurrent lower urinary tract infections (rUTIs), as well as vulvodynia that started years ago after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a radical mastectomy and antioestrogen therapy for 5 years. Afterwards, she started having recurrent vulvar pain and rUTIs with incontinence. At her last visit, she was cancer free.


  • Topical oestrogen was prescribed vaginally by her oncologist and she was instructed to be followed up by her gynaecologist. She received topical oestrogen for 6 months with no improvement at all, so oestrogens were discontinued. She was then started on a 7-day course of 100 mg of nitrofurantoin following another acute infection, and 3-month course of immunactive prophylaxis.


  • She is currently asymptomatic and has only experienced 3 rUTIs in the last 4 years, whilst receiving a second 3-month course of immunactive prophylaxis after 18 months. Her vaginal pain was secondary to the irritation caused by her incontinence pads and rUTIs, which progressed to become multidrug-resistant.

Meet Zoë

premenopausal woman urinary tract infection patient story

Zoë (28)* – a premenopausal woman

  • A 28-year-old female underwent multiple specialist visits and consultations, and was diagnosed with rUTIs (six episodes per year), caused by multidrug-resistant Klebsiella species.


  • Her last episode was treated with ertapenem 1g intramuscular every 24 hours for 7 days , and she was also started on immunactive prophylaxis for 3 months.


  • At her follow-up, she had a normal urinalysis and a negative urinary culture. One year later, the patient was asymptomatic.

Meet Edith

neurogenic bladder old woman urinary tract infection patient story

Edith (86)* – a neurogenic bladder patient

  • An 86-year-old woman presented with a history of rUTIs and sacral plexus damage, acquired during spinal column surgery 20 years ago. She was also diagnosed with hypertension and hypercholesterolemia 12 years ago.


  • She was treated with a daily dose of nitrofurantoin for 5 years to avoid severe pyelonephritis, which she had experienced in the past. Five years ago her treatment was changed to a 3-month cycle of immunactive prophylaxis every year, and nitrofurantoin was switched from a daily dose to a symptom related rescue treatment.


  • The patient is now doing well and is able to go travelling every 6 months.

Meet June

woman multiple recurrences urinary tract infection patient story

June (55)* – a patient experiencing multiple recurrences

  • A 55-year-old woman presented with an acute uncomplicated UTI and a 3-year history of rUTIs (six episodes per year).
    Despite receiving multiple treatments from specialists including behavioural interventions, her quality of life was poor at presentation. Ten years earlier she underwent an abdominal hysterectomy, during which her left ureter was accidentally sectioned, requiring reinsertion into the bladder 1 month after the initial surgery. rUTIs began following an uneventful recovery from a complicated abdominal hysterectomy.


  • At presentation, the patient was receiving hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with oral oestrogens and was diagnosed with an abnormal vaginal flora based on vaginal swab culture. Urinalysis results showed 5600 leukocytes / μl, positive bacteria, and positive nitrites. Her urine culture revealed multidrug-resistant E. coli with susceptibility to amikacin, nitrofurantoin, cefepime, imipenem, meropenem, and piperacillin/tazobactam.


  • The patient was started on nitrofurantoin 100 mg every 8 hours for 7 days to control the acute infection. Vaginal estriol cream was initiated to normalise vaginal flora (1 mg / g every other day for 1 month), and HRT was stopped. Prophylactic therapy with immunactive prophylaxis was initiated daily for 3 months.


  • The patient was asymptomatic for 18 months before presenting with a mildly symptomatic acute UTI. Urinalysis showed 200 leukocytes / μl and bacteria present. Urine culture showed multidrug-resistant E. coli with sensitivity to nitrofurantoin once again. Nitrofurantoin treatment was reinitiated to treat the acute infection, along with a second course of immunactive prophylaxis to ensure coverage for the next 18 months.

Meet Denise

woman diabetes acute urinary tract infection patient story

Denise (54)* – a poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus patient

  • A 54-year-old female patient presented with an acute urinary tract infection. She had a 4-year history of type 2 diabetes mellitus and recurrent vaginal infections caused on different occasions by Candida spp. and E. coli. Her glycaemic control was poor despite treatment with metformin and a SGLT-2 inhibitor. The patient was allergic to nitrofurantoin following 10 years of chronic treatment for rUTIs. She was using combined topical hormone replacement therapy to control her symptoms.


  • Upon presentation she was found to have a Candida albicans infection resistant to fluconazole and voriconazole. Leukocytes were negative and bacteria were absent. Urinalysis revealed glycosuria (>20 g / l) and haematuria, with trace amounts of haemoglobin.


  • The patient was referred to an endocrinologist to address the underlying glycosuria. The patient also went for a medical consultation because of this acute infection. The doctor decided to start prophylaxis with immunactive prophylaxis because of the patient’s history of infective episodes caused by E. coli and her risk factors for new recurrences. With improved glycaemic control, prophylaxis, and acute treatment she presented with one urinary tract infection caused by E. coli.

Meet Sylvia

woman depression diabetes urinary tract infection patient story

Sylvia (45)* – a patient with mental health issues

  • A 45-year-old patient presented with rUTIs, chronic depression and a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM). Since the diagnosis of DM 4 years ago, her glycaemic control has varied and is currently being treated with Invokana and her endocrinologist is in the process of prescribing insulin.


  • The patient has experienced 4 rUTIs in the past 8 months, as well as recurrent vaginal candidiasis.


  • She is taking Desvenlafaxine for her depression, which is related to low quality of life and often complains of feeling tired and frustrated, which all worsen during her rUTIs. However, one year ago she had a 9-month window free of rUTIs after 3-month prophylactic treatment with immunactive prophylaxis. She is currently receiving a booster treatment with immunactive prophylaxis to extend her rUTI free period. Sylvia’s quality of life has improved.

References

*Those are real clinical cases. Pictures are not from the real patients. In those cases, doctor decided to choose OM-89 as immunoactive prophylaxis.

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The RECAP board is a panel of international experts in urological infections. The opinions presented within this educational material are those of the RECAP board and not those of OM Pharma. Members of the RECAP board include: Jose Tiran Saucedo (Mexico), Yvette León (Mexico), Gernot Bonkat (Switzerland), Kurt G. Naber (Germany), Florian ME. Wagenlehner (Germany), J C. Nickel (Canada), Flavia Rossi (Brazil), Enrique Ubertazzi (Argentina), Agnaldo L. da Silva Filho (Brazil), Tamara S. Perepanova (Russia), Jose Antonio Ortega Martell (Mexico) & Seung-Ju Lee (Korea), Bela Köves (Hungary) & Tommaso Cai (Italy).

Patient version : MED-HQ-UV-2100071 / HCP version : MED-HQ-UV-2100070
Date of preparation: December 2021