What is a urinary tract infection?
Symptoms of the disease cause harmful bacteria that enter the urinary tract, urethra, bladder, or prostate. As a result, prostatitis, urethritis, cystitis, pyelonephritis can develop. Most often, the disease occurs in the elderly. In childhood, girls are more susceptible to infection than peer boys. Among girls, the peak period is 2–3 years, in boys - from birth to six months.
Causes of the disease
The source of infection is intestinal bacteria that, for whatever reason, enter the human urogenital system. Gastrointestinal bacteria enter the urethra, and through it to other internal organs, begin to multiply and reach the bladder. If inflammation of the bladder occurs, then we can talk about cystitis.
Women are more susceptible to the disease, since there is too little distance between the urethra and anus, which greatly facilitates the penetration of bacteria than in men. That is why urinary tract infection in children is the most common, since with improper washing of the girl there is a rather high risk of bacteria entering the urethra.
Urinary tract infection. Symptoms
- very frequent urge to urinate, even if the amount of urine is only a couple of drops;
- burning pain during urination in the bladder;
- the occurrence of painful symptoms during sexual intercourse, which can also be caused by a disease such as a urinary tract infection;
- symptoms suggesting infection include cloudy urine with a pungent odor, sometimes with blood;
- pain around the pelvic area;
- stomach ache;
- general malaise and weakness;
- infection of the upper urinary tract may result in fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea.
Diagnosis of the disease "Urinary tract infection"
Symptoms characteristic of the infection may also indicate diseases of a different kind, therefore it is worth contacting a therapist initially, who will refer you to a highly specialized specialist. Usually it is a urologist or nephrologist. For the most accurate diagnosis, the patient is assigned to take urine tests. When infected, the number of bacteria greatly exceeds the norm, sometimes an increase in the number of white blood cells is observed, which may indicate a beginning inflammatory process.
But at some stages of the disease, urine analysis for bacteria does not show any results confirming the infection, therefore, in parallel with the general analysis, bacteriological urine culture is prescribed .
Urinary Tract Infection
According to the results of analyzes and after interviewing the patient, the doctor prescribes the appropriate treatment for this stage. Usually a hospital stay is not required - and treatment is carried out on an outpatient basis. But if there is an infection of the upper urinary tract, proceeding in a severe form or against a background of reduced immunity, then the patient is sent to hospitalization.
The main objective of treatment is to achieve complete emptying of the bladder and normalize the outflow of urine. For this, antibiotic preparations are prescribed. The course with a milder course of the disease lasts up to seven days. In parallel with painful pain medications, for example, ibuprofen, are prescribed.
If we are talking about the upper urinary tract, then the course of treatment, depending on the complexity of the course of the disease, lasts up to two weeks.
Particular attention is paid to the treatment of pregnant women, since with untreated genitourinary infection , intrauterine infection of the child can occur, which can lead to negative consequences.