It has long been believed that urinary tract infections are largely caused by poor personal hygiene. However, new research suggests that many cases may actually be caused by infections caused by a virus. coli bacteria from contaminated meat purchased at grocery stores.
UTIs are common – There are 400 million cases per year worldwide – and can occur when bacteria enter the urethra and infect the urinary tract, according to the US. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although public health authorities, including The CDC has made it clear that coli can cause UTIs, the information they provide is often vague. Usually when coli appears on agency websites in the context of strains that cause diarrhea.
A The new study was published Thursday in the scientific journal of the American Society for Microbiology. pays attention to strains coli which cause UTIs.
Between 2017 and 2021, researchers from George Washington University and Kaiser Permanente in Southern California collected more than 5,700 urine samples that tested positive for the virus. E. wand from US patients with UTIs living in Southern California, from Bakersfield to San Diego.
The researchers also took samples of meat (including turkey, chicken, pork and beef) sold at retail outlets in the areas where these patients lived.
By comparing these two sets of samples, the researchers determined that approximately one in five of these infections could be attributed to exposure coli from contaminated meat purchased in the USA
“Urinary tract infections have long been considered a personal health problem, but our findings suggest they are also a food safety problem,” said Lance Price, senior author of the study and professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University.
Among the meat samples coli Contamination was highest in chicken (found in 38% of samples collected) and turkey (36%), followed by beef (14%) and pork (12%).
According to the study, foodborne UTIs disproportionately affect women, as well as people living in low-income areas.
Women are much more prone to infections in general due to their anatomy. Women have a shorter urethra – a tube through which urine is drained from the bladder to the outside, and a short distance facilitates the penetration of bacteria up the urethra into the bladder. However, it is unclear why foodborne UTIs affect women more than men.
It is also unclear why there is such a strong correlation between foodborne UTIs and people living in areas of high poverty. However, the study showed that coli contamination was more often observed in “valuable packages” of meat; those. products containing more meat sell for a lower price per pound.
“My own experience of visiting grocery stores in wealthier areas compared to lower-income areas is that the quality of food in the latter is lower,” Price said.
The study also found that factors such as storage at inappropriate temperatures, lack of proper safety and hygiene measures during handling, and production in unsanitary conditions may have contributed to coli pollution.
Price said he and his team sometimes saw packages of chicken “bloated with saline solution.” Excess water could be the cause coli contamination if it leaked onto checkout lines and contaminated other grocery items.
While Price believes our food supply chain could do more to reduce the risk of foodborne UTIs, consumers can practice safe food handling to reduce the risk of infection. This includes:
- Buy meat and poultry in secure packaging to prevent contamination with other products.
- We carefully prepare all meat and poultry products. A full list Recommended temperatures for whole cuts of beef, ground meat and poultry can be found on the CDC website.
- Prevent cross contamination in the kitchen.
- Washing hands and kitchen surfaces after preparing raw meat.
