What is urinary Tract Infection?

Urinary tract infection (UTI) refers to the range of manifestations and severity of illness associated with microbial colonization of the genitourinary tract that extends from the renal cortex of the kidney to the urethral meatus.

 Who are at risk?

It is the most common bacterial infection accounting for 25% of all infections and it occurs in all age groups in both male and female. Incidence of UTI is higher in female as compared to male. The reason behind this is probably due to various clinical entities like distance of urethra and anus is short, hormonal effects & behavior pattern.

 Why UTI is risk in female in context of developing country like Nepal?

UTI is the commonest bacterial infection affecting females mostly in the developing countries like Nepal due to illiteracy, lack of proper hygiene & sanitary facilities. They are always at risk of infections caused by various microorganisms. It is predicted that about 50% of women will be infected with urinary pathogen in their lifetime, and one in three women will receive antimicrobial agent for the treatment of UTI.

How UTI is diagnosed?

UTI is diagnosed with a simple method of culture in the microbiological laboratory. The patient has to give a urine sample which is processed in the laboratory. Bacteria is isolated and the appropriate antibiotic for particular bacterium is selected through antibiotic susceptibility test.

Why culture is in need before antibiotic therapy?

Clinicians are experiencing the presence of various cases of antibiotic resistance to common antibiotics especially in urinary pathogens in both developed and developing countries. The high level of resistance is mainly because of excessive and inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents. So, medical professionals should always consider prescribing antimicrobial agent based on antibiotic susceptibility.

What are signs and symptoms of UTI?

Fever

Lower abdominal pain

Frequency of micturition

Burning micturition

Red color urine

References

1.     Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Performance standard for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Twenty third informational supplement. CLSI document M 100-S23, 2013

2.     Published at Devdaha Medical Journal 2019

Medically Reviewed by

Amrita Dhakal, Assistant Professor and Consultant Microbiologist