Meat contaminated with E.Coli bacteria would cause urinary tract infections

in collaboration with

Dr Odile Bagot (Gynecologist-obstetrician)

The E-.Coli bacterium causes thousands of poisonings each year. But it can also lead to urinary tract infections. According to researchers, the bacterium, which is found in raw meat, could thus be a major cause of urinary tract infections in the United States.

8% of urinary tract infections are due to meat consumption

In this study, published in the medical journal One Health, scientists examined raw chicken, turkey and pork purchased from the supermarket in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The goal? Check for E.Coli bacteria.

They also took E.Coli isolates from the urine and blood of patients with UTIs.

Result ? The researchers found that 8% of E.coli urinary tract infections appear to have been caused by foodborne zoonotic isolates (FZEC). In other words, through meat.

They point out that these foodborne strains were associated with asymptomatic bacteriuria, urinary tract infections and sepsis.

Therefore, the meat “may be an important vector of human exposure to extraintestinal pathogenic strains of E. coli from food animals“, conclude the scientists.

While Dr. Bagot feels that the findings of this study “seem quite logical” since E.Coli can travel from the gut to the bladder,”However, specific E.Coli bacteria from meat and those found in urinary tract infections should be identified..”

Another important point: it’s not by stopping the meat, “that we will no longer have urinary tract infections. This is not the solution.”

To avoid these infections, several precautions apply, specifies the gynecologist.