How can girls get uti

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For more information, see Website Privacy. Skip to navigation menu Skip to content. High Priority Alert. Close alert. Informational Alert. Urinary Tract Infection - Female. Is this your child's symptom? The medical name is cystitis. Your child is taking an antibiotic for the UTI You are worried that the fever or pain is not getting better fast enough Symptoms of UTI Pain, burning or stinging when passing urine Suspect pain if a young child starts to cry while passing urine The feeling of "can't wait" to pass urine may occur.

This is called urgency. Passing small amounts of urine at a time often. During sex, for example, bacteria in the vaginal area may be pushed into the urethra and eventually end up in the bladder, where pee provides a good environment for the bacteria to grow.

This is why females who are sexually active often get UTIs. UTIs are not contagious, so you can't catch a urinary tract infection from someone else. Bacteria may also get into a girl's bladder if she wipes from back to front after a bowel movement BM , which can contaminate the urethral opening. The use of spermicides including condoms treated with spermicide and diaphragms as contraceptives also may increase the risk of UTIs.

This is due to the inflammation and irritation of the urethra or vagina that's sometimes associated with chlamydia and other STDs. Some people seem to get frequent UTIs, but they often have other problems that make them more likely to get an infection, like a problem in the urinary tract structures or function. The most common functional problem of the urinary tract is vesicoureteral reflux pronounced: veh-zi-coe-you-REE-tur-al , a condition in which some pee flows backward, or refluxes, from the bladder into the ureters and even up to the kidneys.

If you have any symptoms of a UTI, you'll need to go to a doctor right away. The sooner you begin treatment, the less uncomfortable you'll be. Call your doctor's office or clinic. If you can't reach your doctor, you can visit an urgent care center or hospital emergency room.

The most important thing is to take action as soon as possible. Only a health care provider can treat urinary tract infections. The first thing a doctor will do is confirm that a person has a UTI by taking a clean-catch urine specimen. At the doctor's office, you'll be asked to clean your genital area with disposable wipes and then pee into a sterile bacteria-free cup. The sample may be used for a urinalysis a test that microscopically checks the pee for germs or pus or a urine culture to grow and identify bacteria in a lab.

Knowing what bacteria are causing the infection can help your doctor choose the best treatment. UTIs are treated with antibiotics. After several days of antibiotics, your doctor may repeat the urine tests to be sure that the infection is gone.

It's important to make sure of this because an incompletely treated UTI can come back or spread. If someone has a lot of pain from a UTI, the doctor may recommend a medicine to help relieve the spasm and pain in the bladder. This will turn pee a bright orange color, but it's harmless and will usually make a person much more comfortable within hours. In the case of a kidney infection, a doctor may prescribe pain medicine.

Examples include having kidney stones or an enlarged prostate gland. Your doctor will ask for a sample of your urine. It is tested to see if it has germs that cause bladder infections. Antibiotics prescribed by your doctor will usually cure a bladder infection.

It may help to drink lots of water and other fluids and to urinate often, emptying your bladder each time. For urinary symptoms such as pain or burning, there is a medicine you can buy without a prescription. But phenazopyridine doesn't treat the infection, so you'll still need an antibiotic.

If your doctor prescribes antibiotics, take the pills exactly as you are told. Do not stop taking them just because you feel better. You need to finish taking them all so that you do not get sick again.

Bacteria that enter the urethra and travel up the urinary tract are the usual cause of urinary tract infections UTIs. Bacteria that normally live in the large intestine and are present in feces stool are the most common source of infection.

Sexual intercourse may move bacteria into the urinary tract, especially in women. Catheters , which are small, flexible tubes inserted into the bladder to allow urine to drain, are a common source of bacterial infection in people who are in hospitals or who live in long-term care facilities.

Sometimes bacteria traveling through the blood or lymph system cause kidney or bladder infections. Kidney stones , an enlarged prostate in men, and structural problems in the urinary tract can contribute to UTIs by limiting the body's ability to eliminate urine completely. Women who have repeated UTIs may have inherited genes that make them more likely to get these infections. Some people have bacteria in their urinary tract without having any symptoms. This is called asymptomatic bacteriuria.

Asymptomatic bacteriuria may lead to infections that cause symptoms, but in many cases it does not. It usually goes away without treatment. Several other conditions, such as vaginal infections or irritable bladder, cause symptoms similar to those of a UTI.

Your doctor may evaluate your health for one or more of these if you have urinary symptoms, depending on your medical history and how well you respond to treatment for a UTI. Urinary tract infections UTIs typically occur when bacteria from the rectal area enter through the urethra and travel up the urinary tract to the bladder or kidneys. Typically, UTIs cause urinary symptoms, such as pain or burning during urination.

Some mild bladder infections may go away on their own within a couple of days. Most UTIs clear up quickly with antibiotics. The amount of time required to cure the infection and the need for urine tests will vary with the location bladder or kidneys , frequency, and seriousness of the infection.

Kidney infections and UTIs that are complicated by other factors require longer treatment. Complications of UTIs are not common but do occur. Serious complications can include permanent kidney damage and widespread infection sepsis , which can be life-threatening. The risk is greater if the infection is not treated or if the infection does not respond to antibiotics.

Some people have many UTIs. They are often new infections recurrent UTIs , but they can also be the same infection coming back a relapse. A rapid relapse usually means that treatment failed or there is another problem affecting the urinary tract not just the infection. UTIs are most common in young to middle-aged women.

They occur more often in women than in men because:. Some women have an ongoing problem with UTIs. If a woman has more than two bladder infections in 6 months or more than three infections in a year, she is said to have recurrent UTIs. Recurrent UTIs usually get better with extended antibiotic treatment. But infection may recur as soon as the woman stops taking antibiotics. For this reason, doctors usually recommend preventive antibiotics.

UTIs in older men are more often related to prostate problems. This can make them more difficult to treat. Having an enlarged prostate , which is common in older men, can limit the body's ability to pass urine. Repeated UTIs may indicate prostatitis , epididymitis , or another urinary tract problem. Urinary tract infections UTIs are most common in young to middle-aged sexually active women.

Things that increase a woman's risk of getting UTIs include:. Call your doctor immediately if painful urination or other symptoms of a urinary tract infection UTI occur with:. Call your doctor immediately if you are pregnant and have symptoms of a UTI listed above.

Watchful waiting is a wait-and-see approach. If you get better on your own, you won't need treatment. If you get worse, you and your doctor will decide what to do next. In adults, home treatment for minor urinary tract infections UTIs often resolves the problem. Home treatment includes drinking plenty of water and urinating often, emptying the bladder each time.

If you have symptoms of a urinary tract infection UTI , your first evaluation by a doctor will likely include:. Your doctor may order a urine culture to confirm the diagnosis of a suspected UTI. But if your doctor thinks you have a UTI, he or she may have you start taking antibiotics right away without waiting for the results of your test. If the infection does not respond to treatment with antibiotics or recurs rapidly, if the infection may be complicated by other factors , or, in some cases, if the kidneys are infected, your doctor may order other tests to:.

If you get UTIs often, your doctor may write you a standing prescription for antibiotics that you can fill without a doctor's appointment. Then when you first have symptoms of a UTI, you can start taking medicine right away. You may want to use a home test for UTI to make sure you have an infection before you start antibiotics.

Antibiotics can treat most urinary tract infections UTIs successfully. The goals of treatment for UTIs are to relieve symptoms, eliminate the infection and prevent recurrence, and prevent unlikely but serious complications such as kidney damage and sepsis.

In pregnant women, treatment protects the woman and the fetus. Treatment for bladder infections is usually a combination of antibiotics and home treatment.

Home treatment includes drinking a lot of water and fluids and urinating frequently, emptying your bladder each time. More testing is not needed if your symptoms improve. Oral antibiotics usually can treat kidney infections pyelonephritis. But you may need a brief hospital stay and a short course of intravenous IV antibiotics if you are too ill or nauseated to take medicine by mouth oral medicine.

Kidney infections tend to make people more severely ill than bladder infections. If you have a severe kidney infection, or if a bladder or kidney infection is complicated by other factors , you may need hospital care. If your urinary tract infection UTI does not improve after treatment with antibiotics, you will need further evaluation and additional antibiotic treatment. If the infection spreads and affects your kidney function or causes widespread infection sepsis , you will need hospital care.

These complications are not common. And they rarely occur in people who are otherwise healthy. A new infection, rather than a relapse of the same infection, usually is the cause of a UTI that keeps coming back recurs. Keep the tip of your penis clean, especially if you are uncircumcised. The foreskin can trap bacteria, which can then get into the urinary tract and cause infection.