A new analysis in Urology looked at nearly 1.9 million women with recurrent UTIs and found that the small share who were prescribed vaginal estrogen within two months of their second infection had substantially lower odds of sepsis, hospitalization, and death over the following eight years — and that held across every age group, from 20 to 99. Sepsis occurred in 4.2%–10.4% of women prescribed vaginal estrogen versus 8.5%–24.1% of those who weren’t; hospitalization in 7.5%–12.0% versus 15.7%–27.5%; and mortality in 0.3%–3.9% versus 0.8%–9.6%. Notably, only 5.1% of these women received a prescription at all. This is a retrospective database study, so it shows association rather than proof of cause, but the size and consistency across ages make it a meaningful signal — and a reminder that local vaginal estrogen is dramatically underused in women with recurrent UTIs, including younger women.

Read the study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42269780/