Urinary Tract Infection - Essay Example

"Urinary Tract Infection" is a decent example of a paper on infections.
There are various diseases that have become common in current society. Some of these diseases affect all members of the society irrespective of age. One of such diseases is the urinary tract infection (UTI). The disease is caused by swelling of the bladder and or the kidneys (Department of Urology, 2015). The swelling is associated with certain types of bacteria that move through the urethra and eventually into the bladder. The condition is characterized by the place where the bacteria settle.  As a result, there has been a categorization of UTI into three types. The common is cystitis that is a disease of the bladder and pyelonephritis that is an infection of the kidney (State Government of Victoria, 2015). The disease means that the bacteria settle in these three regions to cause the conditions. The majority of the infections are found in the bladder and symptoms may not be severe. The paper will focus on symptoms of UTI, compare the symptoms, and show the most vulnerable gender.

The symptoms are very crucial when it comes to the diagnosis of UTI. However, it is a challenge infection may occur without any noticeable symptoms. The most common disease of UTI is acute cystitis. It is associated with disturbing symptoms that include urinary pressure, frequency, pain while urinating, and some blood in the urine (American Urological Association, 2015). Others signs are stinking urine and pain in the suprapubic region. On the other hand, the infection of the upper urinary tract also known as pyelonephritis may occur. One it occurs it is characterized by symptoms present in cystitis. The unique symptoms are fever, rigours, abdominal pain as well as uneasiness and vomiting (American Urological Association, 2015). The two types of UTI present some symptoms that are common. In acute cystitis and acute pyelonephritis, the common symptoms are urinary pressure, frequency, pain while urinating, and some blood in the urine (American Urological Association, 2015).

Differentiation of acute cystitis and acute pyelonephritis is possible in the patient. The distinction is possible through history and physical examination (Colgan, Williams, Johnson, 2011). In such an examination, it will be possible to know what condition the patient is suffering from. For example, presentation of lower urinary tract symptoms with fever, nausea, and vomiting is indicative of acute pyelonephritis (Colgan, Williams, Johnson, 2011). Hence, this finding will help in identifying the type of infection.

The risk of the infections also depends on age as well as gender. The disease is common in those young women that are sexually active (Hooton & Gupta, 2015). Statistics indicate that one in two women will get UTI in their life while one in 20 men will also get the disease (State Government of Victoria, 2015). Hence, there is a reduced rate of infection in men. In this case, the common risk factor is sexual intercourse. On the other hand, cystitis has been found common in women that have had menopause (Hooton & Gupta, 2015). In women, acute pyelonephritis has been found to be less frequent. Moreover, the diseases are also common in babies and the elderly in society (State Government of Victoria, 2015).