Modern science has shown that the widely held beliefs of clinicians about urinary tract infection (UTI) are wrong. A large body of meticulous, rigorous data, from different centres around the world makes this point. How can it be that doctors continue to practise in contradiction of what we now know? A few clinicians are now changing their approach with gratifying results so it is timely to encourage others to do likewise. Clinical guidelines have achieved such influence that most doctors feel compelled to follow them and may face censure if they do not. Regrettably the guidelines are...