Urinary tract infection is caused by the intrusion of bacteria into the urinary tract – kidneys, urethra, bladder and ureters. Next to respiratory infections, urinary tract infections are the second most common type of infection that can affect the human body.

Here is a recap on some possible reasons why one can have urinary tract infection in case you missed my previous posts:

Bacteria from the digestive system
Normally, urine is free of bacteria, viruses and fungi. However, when bacteria from the digestive system get into the urethra, they multiply and cause infection. The most common type of bacteria is Escherichia coli or more popularly known as E. coli.

Sexual Intercourse
Bacteria may also enter the urinary tract due to sexual intercourse. The most common bacteria that may lead to UTI are Chlamydia and Mycoplasma.

Holding Urine
Holding urine increases the chances for bacteria that may be present in it to multiply. This may lead to infection.

Infection in the urethra is called urethritis. The bacteria do not always stay in the urethra alone. It can travel to the bladder, ureters and eventually into the kidneys. Infection in the bladder is called cystitis while infection in the kidneys is called pyelonephritis.

Urinary tract infections can be treated using antibacterial drugs. For most cases, treatment may last for just a few days to about a week or two.

But if there are obstructions or presence of other diseases, treatment may be prolonged. Infections caused by Chlamydia and Mycoplasma need a longer treatment period.

Aside from using drugs, one could use natural remedy for UTI.

Here is a list of some of them that you can easily follow from home: Read more >>

There are a lot of controversies surrounding the effect of anti reflux valves for the prevention of urinary tract infection especially in surgical patients.

Medical journals, studies, researches and experiments have tried to answer this main question: does anti-reflux valves affect urinary tract infections?

The thing is during surgical procedures, when the patient needs to be catheterized, the result would usually lead to urinary tract infections. This is mainly because after the surgery, patients’ immune system is a bit compromised.

Also, although urine is generally bacteria free, introduction of bacteria can come from other medium like catheterization. Because of this, a lot of physicians started studying about the cause and effect of UTI. One of these studies tries to answer this primary question: does anti-reflux valves affect urinary tract infections used closed drainage systems?

It is very crucial to address this because in the United States, urinary tract infections remain the most common nosocomial infection in ICUs. This is probably because ICU patients are confined to catheters and are likely to acquire bacteria.

Urinary tract infections are caused mainly by bacteria that is introduced into the urine and that infects other part of the urinary system like the bladder and the urethra.

Although one may obtain urinary tract infections through other medium such as sexual intercourse, for this specific topic, catheterization as a main root of UTI is dealt with.
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