Community acquired urinary tract infection

Abstract

Urinary tract infections (UTI) represent one of the most common infectious diseases and represent a high economic cost throughout the world every year. The term UTI encompasses the pathology in different anatomical areas: urethritis, cystitis, pyelonephritis, and prostatitis; cystitis being the most common, which typically presents as dysuria, urinary frequency and urgency. UTIs include a wide variety of clinical presentations, from simple colonization to septic shock. Enteric bacteria are the main causes of UTI, of which Escherichia coli is the main pathogen. They are the second leading cause of bacterial infection in the community, after respiratory infections; and the incidence increases with age and in females. The episodes can be classified as uncomplicated for otherwise healthy, sexually active, non-pregnant female patients; the complicated ones occur in patients with a risk factor such as structural or functional abnormalities of the urinary tract, underlying pathologies or special populations such as pregnant women and children. The diagnosis is based mainly on the clinic, with the help of urine studies for cases that require it. Treatment is antibiotic therapy, administered empirically and outpatiently, in most cases.