Urinary tract infections, often called UTIs, are among the most common bacterial infections. They affect millions of people every year, especially women.
About half of all women will have at least one UTI during their lifetime, and many experience repeated infections that can seriously affect their quality of life.
A UTI happens when bacteria enter the urinary system, which includes the bladder, kidneys, and urethra. Symptoms often include pain or burning during urination, frequent trips to the bathroom, and pain in the lower abdomen. If the infection is not treated quickly, it can spread to the kidneys and cause more serious health problems.
Doctors usually treat UTIs with antibiotics. However, this has become more difficult because many bacteria have developed resistance to commonly used antibiotics. As a result, some medicines no longer work as well as they once did.
Another challenge is that standard laboratory tests often take several days to identify the bacteria causing the infection. During this waiting period, doctors usually have to choose an antibiotic without knowing exactly which bacteria are responsible. If the wrong antibiotic is used, it may not clear the infection and could contribute to growing antibiotic resistance.
Researchers at ETH Zurich and Balgrist University Hospital have now developed a faster way to identify the bacteria behind a UTI. Their new test uses bacteriophages, often called phages, which are viruses that naturally infect bacteria.
For this study, the scientists genetically modified the phages to make them more useful. They focused on three types of bacteria that cause most UTIs: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, and Enterococci.
When the modified phages infect bacteria in a urine sample, they cause the bacteria to produce a light signal. This lets doctors quickly identify which bacteria are present. The entire process takes only about four hours instead of several days.
Getting results much sooner could help doctors prescribe the most effective antibiotic right away. This may improve patient recovery while also reducing unnecessary antibiotic use and slowing the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The researchers also believe phages could become a treatment as well as a testing tool. Phage therapy has existed for more than 100 years, but it became less popular after antibiotics such as penicillin were introduced. As antibiotic resistance has increased around the world, scientists have once again become interested in using phages.
Unlike antibiotics, which can kill both harmful and helpful bacteria, phages attack only specific bacteria. In this study, the researchers made the phages even more powerful by engineering them to produce bacteriocins, proteins that can kill bacteria after the phages infect them.
The team is now preparing clinical trials to test this new technology in patients. Lead researcher Matthew Dunne said more research and updated regulations will be needed before phage-based treatments become widely available because phages are living viruses that can change over time.
The study was published in Nature Communications. Although more testing is still needed, the new approach could lead to faster diagnosis, more accurate treatment, and a powerful new way to fight antibiotic-resistant infections in the future.
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