Special features
Special features for women
Urinary tract infections occur relatively frequently in women. The reason is the short distance from the outside via the urethra to the bladder. Not all urinary tract infections in women need antibiotic treatment.
In some cases, pain therapy for a few days is sufficient. However, women in pregnancy should always be treated with antibiotics. Women who frequently suffer from urinary tract infections (recurrent urinary tract infections) can be treated prophylactically.
This can be done independently with herbal remedies. These include cranberry in the form of juice or tablets. With the treating physician together can be discussed over medicamentous preventive measures.
Women tend to develop cystitis much more frequently in middle age than men. During pregnancy the rate of urinary tract infections is even higher. They occur in about 4-7% of cases.
Such an infection during pregnancy is always considered complicated, so it should always be treated with antibiotics. Diagnostically, urinalysis is of the greatest importance, as it is for non-pregnant women. A urine culture should also be carried out.
This is where the exact pathogens are determined and it is evaluated which antibiotics are most effective against these pathogens. During pregnancy, asymptomatic bacteriuria, i.e. a urinary tract infection that only shows up in the urine but does not cause any symptoms, must also be treated. The reason for this is the assumption that urinary tract infections during pregnancy cause an increased rate of premature births.
In addition, if left untreated, there is a risk that the urinary tract infection will turn into a renal pelvic inflammation. During pregnancy, only certain antibiotics can be used to treat the urinary tract infection. These include drugs from the group of cephalosporins and amoxicillin.
Fosfomycin is recommended by some authors as 1st choice, by others only as 2nd choice. The recommendations for the duration of therapy vary, in the guideline a therapy duration of 7 days is recommended. Inflammation of renal pelvis should be treated with cephalosporins.Due to the severity of the clinical picture an inpatient therapy should be considered.
A urinary tract infection can also occur in the postpartum period. As in pregnancy, it occurs here more frequently than in non-pregnant women. The symptoms are burning pain when urinating and a frequent urge to urinate.
A urine test must be performed to make a diagnosis. In the presence of a urinary tract infection, an increased number of white blood cells can be detected in the urine, this is called leukocyturia. In most cases, antibiotic treatment is sought.
However, this must be decided by the treating gynecologist in each individual case. A urinary tract infection that occurs during breastfeeding is ultimately nothing more than a urinary tract infection during pregnancy. The main difference is that an infection during pregnancy must always be treated with antibiotics.
During the breastfeeding period it can be decided individually whether antibiotic treatment is necessary. There are special antibiotics that can be used safely during pregnancy and breastfeeding. These include cephalosporins, for example.
