What is Urinary tract infection?

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common bacterial infection in women, with one-half of all women experiencing at least one UTI in their lifetime.

The most common causative bacteria for most UTIs in women are Escherichia coli up to 86% and the rest of them are made up of Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Klebsiella, Proteus species, Enterobacter species, Citrobacter species, or Enterococcus species as the least causative bacteria.

What are the common symptoms?

Symptoms include the following:

- Burning pain when urinating (Dysuria)

- Increased urination (Urinary frequency)

- Increased urges to urinate, but not urinating as much (Urinary urgency) and/or

- Pain or discomfort over lower abdominal pain (bladder pain or suprapubic pain)

How can we make a diagnosis? Can you make a diagnosis without labs?

Yes, Because of the predictable nature of the causative bacteria as listed above, urine culture is not indicated for the majority of urinary tract infection diagnosis. However, urinalysis is recommended and appropriate, especially for patients who fail initial treatment.

Urine cultures are recommended in women with suspected kidney infection, women with symptoms that do not resolve or that recur within two to four weeks after completing the antibiotic treatment, and women who present with atypical symptoms.

Diagnosis of Urinary tract infection by Telehealth

There have been studies that woman who have previously had uncomplicated urinary tract infection are usually accurate in determining when they are having another recurrent infection. Another randomized controlled trial compared outcomes of uncomplicated urinary tract infection in healthy women managed by telehealth setting versus in the office setting and made a conclusion that there were no differences in symptom score or satisfaction in treatment results between the two groups.