A urinary infection is a serious bacterial infection that affects any part of the urinary system. It is considered to be the second most common type of infection in a human body and it’s affecting millions of individuals each year. The majority of them are sexually active women (studies have shown that one woman in five gets a urinary infection during her lifetime) and people with diabetes.
A frequently asked question is what causes a urinary infection in an adult? Urine is a sterile substance. Is contains only water, fluids, salt and waste products and it’s normally clean from bacteria or viruses. Somehow, a urinary infection manages to happen, especially when a bacteria named Escherichia coli (E. coli), which lives in the colon, travels to the urethra and begins to multiply there, causing urethritis – a urethra infection. If this bacteria passes into the bladder and multiples there, it can cause cystitis, also known as a bladder infection. These infections need to be treated as soon as they are spotted because if they are left untreated, the bacteria could move up to the ureters and then affect the kidneys, resulting in pyelonephritis – a kidney infection. E. coli affects both men and women and so do other microorganisms like Chlamydia and Mycoplasma which can cause a urinary infection in the urethra and reproductive system.
Although the urinary tract is consisted in a way that protects it from developing a urinary infection (for example, the ureters and bladder are positioned so the urine won’t travel backward towards the kidney and when urine is pushed outsides of the bladder it washes away all of the bacteria that lays in its path), infections still happen. A man’s prostate gland is designed to produce substances that slow down bacterial growth, but once the body ages, the prostate enlarges, obstructing the flow of urine and keeping it in the bladder for long periods of time. In this case, the risk of a bacterial infection is rising dramatically. Any abnormality that slows down the flow of urine (like a kidney stone) gives a free pass to infection. A higher risk of getting a urinary infection is common for people with diabetes, because their immune system is different, and for women. Because a woman’s urethra is short, the bacteria from the anus or vagina can quickly move to the bladder. Pregnant women are more exposed because the infection can easily spread to the kidneys due to the modifications in the position of the urinary system during pregnancy.
A frequent need to urinate and the feeling of pain and burning of the bladder during urination are symptoms of an infection. If the urine has a cloudy density or a reddish color and this symptom is followed by fever, uncomfortable pain above the pubic bone (for women) or a sense of fullness in the rectum (for men), then the infection has reached the kidneys.
Urinary infections are diagnosed by a test of urine. If this turns out negative but symptoms persist, the doctor will run either an X-ray imagine of the kidneys, bladder or ureters, an ultrasound exam or a cystoscopy – a microscopic tube with a light source will be inserted inside the bladder. Once the diagnose is set correctly, treatment against urinary infection will be prescribed, usually consisting of antibiotics.