10. Urinary tract infection Flashcards
What is bacteriuria?
Presence of bacteria in the urine
Asymptomatic bacteriuria is NOT usually relevant. When is it relevant?
Asymptomatic bacteriuria with coliform is significant in PREGNANCY. It is associated with complications in the pregnancy. Therefore, it should be treated.
What is cystitis?
inflammation of the bladder, often caused by infection
What is an uncomplicated UTI?
Infection in a structurally and neurologically normal urinary tract
What is a complicated UTI?
Infection in a urinary tract with functional or structural abnormalities (including indwelling catheters and calculi). Groups of patients in which it is regarded a complicated UTI: Men, pregnant women, children, patients who are hospitalised or in healthcare-associated settings.
What is the prevalence of bacteriuria in young non-pregnant women?
1-3%
What percentage of the female population will experience a symptomatic urinary tract infection at some point during their life?
40-50% of the female population
What percentage of UTIs are caused by a single bacterial species?
95%
What is the most common infection organism in acute infection?
E. coli
What is a reason why E. coli causes UTIs?
These E. coli tend to have adherence factors that allow it to prevent being flushed out by the passage of urine
What other organisms cause UTIs?
Proteus mirabilis; Klebsiella aerogenes; Enterococcus faecalis; Staphylococcus saprophyticus; Staphylococcus epidermidis
Why does Staphylococcus saprophyticus cause UTIs?
Associated with infections in young women. Has virulence factors (P-fimbriae) that allow adherence to the epithelium
Is Staphylococcus saprophyticus coagulase negative or positive?
Coagulase negative
Which organism can cause UTI in the presence of prosthesis (e.g. procedures or long-term indwelling catheter)?
Staphylococcus epidermidis
What is the pathogenesis of UTIs caused by non-E.coli organisms?
In recurrent UTI, especially in the presence of structural abnormalities, the relative frequency of infection caused by non-E. coli organisms (Proteus, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella and Enterobacter and enterococci and staphylococci) increases greatly
What are antibacterial host defences in the urinary tract?
Urine (osmolality, pH, organic acids), urine flow and micturition, urinary tract mucosa (bactericidal activity, cytokines)
How does ascending UTI occur?
The urethra is colonised by bacteria, and the female urethra is short and close to the vulvar and perianal areas, making contamination likely. Organisms that cause UTI colonise the vaginal introitus and the periurethral area before the urinary infection manifests. Massage of the urethra and sexual intercourse can force bacteria into the female bladder. Once in the bladder, bacteria may multiply and pass up the ureters (especially in VUR) to the renal pelvis and parenchyma.
Why does obstruction cause UTIs?
Obstruction inhibits the normal flow of urine, and the resulting stasis is important in increasing susceptibility to infection
What are causes of mechanical obstruction, leading to UTIs?
Extrarenal: valves, stenosis or band; calculi; BPH. Intrarenal: Nephrocalcinosis; uric acid nephropathy; analgesic nephropathy; polycystic kidney disease; hypokalaemic nephropathy; and renal lesions of SCD
What are causes of neurogenic malfunction, leading to UTIs?
Poliomyelitis; tabes dorsalis; diabetic nephropathy; spinal cord injuries
What is a cause of reflux, leading to UTIs?
• Vesicoureteric Reflux (VUR) tends to perpetuate infection by maintaining a residual pool of infected urine in the bladder after voiding. The reflux can result in scarring of the kidneys.
How can UTIs occur via the haematogenous route?
Infrequent. The kidney is a frequent site of abscesses in patients with S. aureus bacteraemia or endocarditis. NOTE: S. aureus does NOT have appropriate virulence factors to cause ascending infection
What type of bacteria rarely causes UTIs via the haematogenous route, and more likely an ascending UTI?
In humans, infection of the kidney with Gram-negative bacilli rarely occurs by the haematogenous route. Seeing E. coli in the urine is much more likely to be due to ascending infection
Symptoms of UTI in neonates and children < 2 years?
NON-SPECIFIC: Failure to thrive, vomiting, fever
Symptoms of UTI in children > 2 years?
Frequency, dysuria, abdominal or flank pain
What are symptoms of lower UTIs, resulting from bacteria causing irritation of urethral and vesical mucosa?
This causes frequent and painful urination of small amounts of turbid urine. Suprapubic heaviness or pain. Occasionally, the urine may be grossly bloody or show a bloody tinge at the end of micturition. Fever tends to be ABSENT in infections that are confined to the lower urinary tract.
What are upper UTI symptoms?
Fever (sometimes with rigors); flank pain; lower urinary tract symptoms (frequency, urgency and dysuria); sometimes, the lower urinary tract symptoms may precede the upper urinary tract symptoms by 1-2 days; symptoms may vary greatly
What are symptoms of UTI in older patients?
Vast majority will be ASYMPTOMATIC. Symptoms, if present, are often NOT diagnostic because non-infected older patients often experience frequency, dysuria, hesitancy and incontinence. Symptoms of upper urinary tract infections are often atypical (e.g. abdominal pain, confusion)