About acute UTI

UTI stands for urinary tract infection, one of the common types of infections that particularly affects women. A UTI is usually a bacterial infection that can occur in any part of the urinary tract, but it commonly appears in the bladder.

Acute UTI

Acute urinary tract infections or UTIs are particularly common in sexually active women, in people who have sickle-cell disease, diabetes, and anatomical abnormalities in the urinary tract. The bacteria are not normally present in the urine and they can enter through the urethra, migrating from the vagina or due to poor toilet hygiene. Pregnancy and enlarged prostate are also factors that increase the risk of UTI in women and men respectively.

UTI can occur anywhere in the urinary tract, which consists of the bladder, kidneys, ureters, and urethra.

Causes of UTI

The microorganisms commonly found to be responsible for a UTI include E. coli, staphylococci, enterococci, proteus, candida, and Klebsiella. There are certain predisposing causes that should also be taken into consideration, like enlarged prostate, neuropathic bladder, kidney stones, polycystic kidney disease, diabetes, catheterization, and vesicoureteral reflux. These are all in regard to acute urinary tract infections.

As for chronic UTI, causes and risk factors include untreated or inadequately treated acute UTI, enlarged prostate, stones, stricture, stasis in the bladder, and several more.

Symptoms of Acute UTI

One of the most prominent symptoms of an acute UTI includes the frequent urge to urinate with little or no urine, nocturia or the urge to urinate during the night, pain, discomfort, or burning sensation while urinating, blood or pus in the urine, foul smell of urine and mild fever.

However, it is worth remembering that a UTI can be asymptomatic, meaning it does not necessarily have to cause any symptoms.

Treatment of Acute UTI

In order to treat an acute urinary tract infection it is recommended to first perform diagnostic tests that will determine the type of microorganism that is causing the infection. This is important because different organisms are treated with different medications.

Candida cannot be treated with antibiotics and bacteria cannot be treated with anti-fungal medications. Sometimes more than one medication is required in order to successfully treat the infection.

However, in mild cases the treatment can be done at home, using home remedies combined with bed rest and consumption of large amounts of fluids.

UTIs are among the most common infectious diseases worldwide, causing approximately 150 million cases per annum, but are significantly understudied. Although much more common in women, UTI can affect men and children and after respiratory infection, it is the most common infectious disease of our ageing population. In care homes, UTI is the most common infectious disease of all. What’s more, UTI is one of the most frequent healthcare-acquired infections, and it is particularly problematic for people with multiple sclerosis, spinal injuries, pregnant women and patients requiring urinary catheters.

Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) accounts for about 80% of community-acquired UTI in otherwise healthy people, but a large number of other bacterial species can cause a UTI.
One of the biggest concerns about UTI is its tendency to recur. While there have been advances in new treatments and vaccines, antibiotics remain the mainstay of therapy. Even despite treatment, up to 25% of women experience a relapse within six months; in one large study, 2% had six or more episodes within a two-year period. Some patients experience recurrent UTI for years, necessitating prophylactic antibiotics that only increase the risk of antimicrobial resistance.
To develop new treatment strategies for UTI, it is imperative that researchers understand the pathophysiology. Although careful studies in UTI patients have been greatly illustrative, as with most diseases, there are limits to what can be understood in this context. The study of UTI with small animal models and cell culture systems, while also incredibly valuable, still have limitations. Further progress in improving the lot of UTI patients will require advances in human-based model systems.
Multiple commercial platforms provide the capability to study various in vitro tissues under mechanical stretch conditions, though certain parameters discussed in this review have yet to be incorporated into a platform capable of supporting a complete bladder infection model. Ideally, an in vitro system capable of uniform, biaxial strain within the range of 10-50% strain is desirable. To support a pragmatic and robust workflow, the ability to experiment with multiple replicates and image experimental samples in situ is vital; however, frequently used stretch platforms in their current forms are not likely to support the complexity of a fully differentiated bladder UTI model.

Many mysteries still remain regarding the host/pathogen interactions of UPEC, to say nothing of the wide array of other understudied species that infect the urinary tract. On the horizon, technological advancements promise an exciting array of improvements to in vitro human models both generally, and for studying the infection biology of UTI in particular. The use of human cells also opens up the possibility of precision medicine by allowing the interrogation of UTI in the context of individual patients.

✓ Fact confirmed: Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection: A Mystery in Search of Better Model Systems Benjamin O. Murray, Carlos Flores, Corin Williams, Deborah A. Flusberg, Elizabeth E. Marr, Karolina M. Kwiatkowska, Joseph L. Charest, Brett C. Isenberg and Jennifer L. Rohn; 26 May 2021

As for prevention, it is important to maintain good personal hygiene, to wipe from the front towards the back, to always empty the bladder completely, and to get tested for STDs. Taking plenty of fluids, especially water, and maintaining the alkalinity of the urine are also important factors in the prevention of UTI.