Efficacy of vaccination with StroVac for recurrent urinary tract infections in women: a comparative single-centre study

To assess the efficacy of prophylaxis for urinary tract infections (UTI) in a two-year follow-up in women with StroVac compared to a therapy with Nitrofurantoin over three months. All patients with documented recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTI) were offered vaccination with StroVac or therapy with three months Nitrofurantoin 100 mg once daily for three months at patient’s choice. Only patients with a follow-up of at least 24 months were included. All episodes with signs of UTI were documented and urine culture was performed. Success was defined as one or none UTI per 12 months, documented by urine culture. StroVac booster injection was offered 12 months after primary vaccination at patient’s choice. 173 patients were included in this study, 124 in the StroVac group, 49 chose Nitrofuratoin. In the first 12 months, 86.8% of patients in the StroVac group and 91.8% in Nitrofurantoin group were successful (p = 0.22). Side effects were noted in 2.3% in the StroVac group causing discontinuation of therapy, whereas in the Nitrofurantoin group 18.4% stopped medication premature, mostly due to mild diarrhoea. In the second year 79.3% of patients in the StroVac group were still successful, most of them had undergone booster injection. In contrast, in the Nitrofurantoin group only 59.2% of patients were still successful (p = 0.03). StroVac is an effective and lasting non-antibiotic prophylaxis for rUTI, easy to administer with low rates of adverse events and should be offered to patients with rUTI.