Your patient has been on antibiotics for 6 weeks after a case of streptococcal endocarditis, an infection of the inner heart wall. The infection clears up. However, the patient just visited you about a urinary tract infection, and the lab veriﬁed that the culprit was E. coli. What do you hypothesize happened in this situation?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The antibiotics used to treat the streptococcal endocarditis likely disrupted the normal microbiota of the genitourinary tract. This disruption can create an environment where opportunistic pathogens like E. coli, which may not have been targeted or affected by the antibiotics, can overgrow and cause an infection such as a urinary tract infection (UTI).

Your Patient Has Been on Antibiotics for 6 Weeks After