A word of warning to dog owners: your pooch is a possible source of urinary tract infections (UTIs).
UTIs occur when bacteria infect the bladder, urethra or kidneys. They can be very painful, but are usually treatable with antibiotics.
About half of all women experience UTIs at some point in their lives, and men can get them too. Most of the time, they are caused by bacteria from a person鈥檚 own faeces 鈥� usually Escherichia coli.
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Peter Damborg and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark investigated whether pets could also be a source of UTIs. They screened 119 people who were treated for UTIs at Hvidovre Hospital, Copenhagen. Nineteen of those patients lived with pets: six cats and 15 dogs in total.
The team asked the pet owners to sample their pet鈥檚 faeces with a cotton swab. Genetic analysis of these revealed that two dogs had E. coli bacteria in their stools that were indistinguishable from those that caused their owner鈥檚 infections.
To find out whether the owners had caught the bacteria from their dogs, or if the dogs in fact might have caught it from their humans, the team asked two of the owners to send more faecal samples 10 months later.
Persistent carrier
Comparing the human and dog samples, the team found that one person didn鈥檛 have any sign of their UTI-causing strain in their faeces, but their dog did. This suggests that this dog persistently carries this strain, and was most likely the source of its owner鈥檚 infection 鈥� although that can鈥檛 be proven definitively.
The other person had their UTI-causing strain in their faeces, suggesting that most likely, they had infected themselves.
It鈥檚 not clear how bacteria from dogs may cause UTIs, says Damborg. 鈥淚 think that people in general should take precautions when in contact with their pets,鈥� he says. For example, he suggests they should avoid being licked. 鈥淚f someone has a compromised immune system, then this point is even more important as they are more at risk for infections.鈥�
Although the team didn鈥檛 find any examples where cats were a possible source of the infection, the same should apply to them and other animals, Damborg says.
搁别蹿别谤别苍肠别:听
