Rôle du laboratoire pour le diagnostic des infections urinaires au retour d'un voyage en zone tropicale

The number of international travels has steadily increased over the last decade, and so did the number of travel-related infections including urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs have no specificity related to travel, even if they seem more frequent in this context. However, traveling to tropical regions is associated with a higher risk of having UTIs due to multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Indeed, the acquisition rates of digestive carriage of multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae are high after a travel especially in intertropical area and are consequently associated with a higher risk of developing a multidrug-resistant bacterial urinary tract infection. In a context of recent travel, biologists play a key role during the pre-analytic step by collecting clinical and epidemiological data to adapt the specific analysis that can be performed. Moreover, biologists are also involved in the post-analytic step in helping the physician to prescribe an appropriate antibiotic therapy, in giving advice to patients and in participating to the surveillance networks.