The Prevalence of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Between the Male and Female Gender
Other
A urinary tract infection also known as (UTI) , happens when a bacterium, often from the skin or rectum, enter the urethra and infect the urinary tract. It is an infection that occurs in any part of your urinary system, that can happen in different parts of your urinary tract. Each type has a different name, based on where it is located: • Cystitis is inflammation of the (bladder) • Pyelonephritis is inflammation of the (kidneys) • Urethritis is inflammation of the (urethra) Asymptomatic bacteriuria is another type of UTI, which is going to be our main focus in this paper. First it is important to know who’s at high risk of acquiring a UTI infection? Some are at higher risk of getting a urinary tract infection than others, in general UTIs are more common in females than males due to the anatomical differences in the length and proximity of the urethra to the rectum in females (the urethra being shorter in females), which gives bacteria transversing from the urethral meatus and the perineum a shorter distance to the bladder, facilitating their entry to the urinary tract. Asymptomatic bacteriuria occurs in a small number of healthy people. It affects women more often than men for the reasons mentioned above, the reasons for the lack of symptoms are not well understood. (1) Diagnosis of asymptomatic bacteriuria is made by urine culture. Either a properly collected clean-catch specimen or a catheterized specimen is acceptable. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has established criteria for diagnosing asymptomatic bacteriuria. (2) for the sake of this report, we will look at different samples acquired from both the male and female gender: Midstream clean catch urine specimen: • For women, two consecutive specimens with isolation of the same bacteria species with at least 100,000 colony-forming units (CFUs) per ml of urine. • For men, a single specimen with isolation of one bacteria species with at least 100,000 CFUs per ml of urine. Catheterized specimen: • For women or men, a single specimen with isolation of one bacteria species with at least 100 CFUs per ml of urine. In the elderly, it is thought that incomplete bladder emptying contributes to the increased incidence of asymptomatic bacteriuria Most patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria will never develop symptomatic urinary tract infections and will have no adverse consequences from asymptomatic bacteriuria. Only exception where patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria should be treated are pregnant women and patients undergoing urologic procedures. Other non-predisposed patients will not benefit from treatment. (3)