Urinary tract infection

Alternative Names

Urinary tract infection, UTI

What is Urinary tract infection

Urinary tract infection is a condition in which your urinary tract is infected by germs. Most urinary tract infections are bladder infections. A bladder infection usually is not serious if it is treated at once. If you do not treat a bladder infection, it can spread to your kidneys. A kidney infection is serious and can cause permanent damage.

Signs and symptoms

You have an infection if:

• You feel pain or burning when you urinate.
• You feel like you have to urinate often, but not much urine comes out when you do.
• Your belly feels tender or heavy.
• Your urine is cloudy or smells bad.
• You have pain on one side of your back under your ribs.
• You have fever and chills.
• You have nausea and vomiting.

Possible complications

Urinary tract infections rarely lead to any complications. Untreated urinary tract infection can become more serious and cause a set of uncomfortable symptoms.

It can also lead to acute or chronic kidney infections (pyelonephritis) which could permanently damage your kidneys. UTI may be overlooked or mistaken for other conditions in older people. Young children are also at a great risk of kidney infections. Pregnant women with urinary tract infections have a high risk of delivering low birth weight or premature infants.

Women who had 3 or more urinary tract infections are likely to continue experiencing them.

What causes

Germs typically get into your system through your urethra, the tube that carries urine from your bladder to the outside of your body. They are found in your large intestine and in your stool. If these germs get inside your urethra, they can travel up into your bladder and kidneys and cause an infection.

Bladder infections are more common in women than men, because women have shorter urethras, so it is easier for the germs to move up to their bladders. It is easy for germs to get into your urethra through sexual intercourse.

You have an increased risk of getting an infection if you do not drink enough fluids, you have diabetes or you are pregnant.

Prevention

To prevent these infections, you should take the following steps:

• Drink lots of water every day.
• Urinate often. Do not try to hold it.
• If you are a woman, urinate right after having sex.
• Postmenopausal women may want to ask their doctors about using vaginal estrogen to prevent recurrent UTIs.

Treatment

Antibiotics are typically used to treat a bladder infection. It may help to drink lots of water and other fluids and to urinate often, emptying your bladder each time.

If your doctor prescribes antibiotics, you should take the pills exactly as you are told. Do not stop taking them just because you feel better. You need to complete the treatment, so that you do not get sick again.