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"THE HEART OF THE MATTER"
a special program of the National Emergency Medicine Association (NEMA)

Guest: Dr. Solomon Langermann, researcher, MedImmune, Gaithersburg, MD

Topic: Understanding urinary tract infections (UTI's)

Host/ Producer: Steve Girard

NEMA: Fighting a common women's problem...coming up...

SPOT: For 15 years, the National Emergency Medicine Association has worked against stroke, heart disease and trauma. Join the effort, call 800-332-6362.

NEMA: Called UTI's for short...urinary tract infections are a big problem. Dr. Sol Langermann researches the issue for MedImmune of Maryland....

LANGERMANN: 50% of women, by the age of 30, will have had at least one urinary tract infection. And overall, it accounts for 7 to 8 million physician or hospital visits per year, and amounts to medical costs exceeding 1 billion dollars per year. It's particularly a problem in adolescent women, and in young adults.

NEMA: Many urinary tract infections are treated with an antibiotic...

LANGERMANN: and that antibiotic regimen can vary, depending upon what types of antibiotics are used from single day treatment to 3 to 7 days. However, the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria are making the disease more difficult to treat, and women who have recurrent UTI's are particularly susceptible to multiple infections.

NEMA: ...a new vaccine against the E. coli bacteria that cause UTI's. Next time...I'm Steve Girard at The Heart of the Matter.