Criteria
Urinary tract infection
Urine culture from a voided specimen demonstrates ≥10³ colony-forming units (CFU)/mL of a single or predominant organism in a patient with symptoms specific to the urinary tract.[31][51][56]
There is debate over the exact number of bacteria in a urine culture that is needed to define urinary tract infection in men. The standardised threshold in symptomatic patients is >10⁵ CFU/mL for organisms identified as common pathogens; however, many sites now use either 10⁴ CFU/mL or 10³ CFU/mL threshold, based on the method of collection or patient population as a baseline for culture work-up and clinical significance.[51] In men, positive results are usually seen if there are more than 10³ CFU/mL, which is much lower than the threshold for women.[52][56]
Asymptomatic bacteriuria
Urine culture demonstrates ≥10⁵ CFU/mL of a single organism obtained by clean catch on one occasion from a man without specific urinary tract symptoms.[6]
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