What does it mean when urine tests positive for infection but culture comes back negative?

UTI +, culture neg: If there is clear evidence of a urinary tract infection, further testing can be done to try ; identify exactly what organism is causing it so that the best targeted treatment can happen. If the urine culture fails to grow the specific bacteria or other organisms being tested for, then the results are negative. It means those particular bugs are not there (or no longer there).