©Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. No commercial re-use. See Permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Psychiatry. Mar 19, 2026; 16(3): 114529
Published online Mar 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i3.114529
Published online Mar 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i3.114529
Prescribing antibiotics to acutely ill psychiatric patients with urine analysis indicative of infection
Michael Huang, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA 17033, United States
Alfredo Bellon, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA 17033, United States
Author contributions: Bellon A conceived the project, edited and contributed to the development of the manuscript; Huang M developed and wrote the different versions of this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Alfredo Bellon, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychia
Received: September 22, 2025
Revised: October 21, 2025
Accepted: December 8, 2025
Published online: March 19, 2026
Processing time: 158 Days and 10.8 Hours
Revised: October 21, 2025
Accepted: December 8, 2025
Published online: March 19, 2026
Processing time: 158 Days and 10.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Acutely ill psychiatric patients often cannot or are unwilling to report urinary tract infection (UTI) symptoms. This complicates current guidelines that largely discourage treating asymptomatic bacteriuria. Emerging evidence suggests a higher prevalence of UTIs during acute psychosis or mania, raising concerns that untreated infections may be causing or exacerbating psychiatric symptoms. Given the potential impact of untreated UTIs for patients with acute psychiatric disorders, we believe that asymptomatic bacteriuria should be treated in this patient population.