If you or your loved ones are old and have a urinary tract infection, read on to find out more about ductal infections or so-called UTI, by doctors.

What is a urinary tract infection or UTI?

Is urinary tract infection more common in the elderly?

Do you know the characteristics of urinary tract infection or UTI in old age?

What do you know about Pseudomonas urinary tract infections in the elderly?

 

what you will read next :

 

All about Pseudomonas

Pseudomonas is an opportunistic infectious agent, meaning it is infectious when the host’s immune system is weak.

It is said that the elderly because of underlying diseases such as, diabetes and diseases of the lungs and heart, the use of various drugs, having cancer or catheters such as urinary catheters and vascular angiocytes or dialysis, and…; provide a good breeding ground for opportunistic infectious agents such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterium that lives in the water and soil around us, especially in humid environments.

Pseudomonas causes urinary tract, respiratory, skin, and skeletal infections in people with weakened immune systems.

Such as:

In this article, we intend to discuss the involvement of the urinary system with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the elderly.

 

Pseudomonas UTI of the elderly

Before explaining the subject of the article, it is necessary to say that Pseudomonas aeruginosa is considered by physicians of nosocomial infections. The humid local hospital environment is suitable for the growth of this bacterium.

Pseudomonas bacteria can be transmitted to patients from fruits, vegetables, flowers, plants, and visitors. The bacterium can be transmitted from one patient to another, infecting the hands of hospital staff.

Pseudomonas can form colonies in people with normal and healthy immune systems but does not cause disease, but these people can transmit the bacterium to immunocompromised patients, the elderly, and diabetics with underlying diseases.

To diagnose this infection, bacterial growth in laboratory culture media is required.

 

What is the definition of UTI?

Urinary tract infection is the presence of an infectious agent that multiplies in the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, but symptomatic urinary tract infection occurs when symptoms of the source of these infections occur in a person.

It is said that if there are more than or equal to ten to the power of five colony forming units of Bactria in each cc of urine, there is bacteriuria.

Bacteriuria is symptomatic if it is accompanied by clinical signs of urinary and is asymptomatic UTI if it has no specific clinical manifestations.

UTI causes a range of diseases.

It may be just inflammation of the bladder or cystitis, which are usually mild and limited to the bladder.

At the other end of the UTI spectrum are severe infections of the kidney tissue. Doctors call infectious involvement of kidney tissue pyelonephritis.

 

statistics

  1. Statistics related to urinary tract infections in general in the elderly
  2. Pseudomonas UTA ​​statistics in the elderly

 

UTI is considered to be one of the most common infections diagnosed in the elderly.

The prevalence of urinary tract infections is higher in the elderly who are kept in nursing homes, hospitals and…

Women are 50 times more likely to develop UTIs than men.

One-third of nursing home care is due to urinary tract infections.

UTIs are said to be rare in men under the age of 60, but over the age of 60, the prevalence of UTIs in men and women will be similar.

 

  1. Statistics related to urinary tract infections in general in the elderly:

The prevalence of UTI in women over sixty-five years will be twenty per 100 women.

(The prevalence of UTI in the entire adult population, regardless of age and sex, is about eleven people in a hundred people)

It is estimated that 10% of postmenopausal women who see a doctor have had UTI once in the past year.

Fifty to sixty percent of women are said to experience UTI at least once in their lifetime.

Men and women over the age of sixty have the same risk of developing UTI. You will find the cause of this problem below.

Nowadays, with diagnostic advances, increased awareness, and better care, the number of this age is increasing.

 

  1. Pseudomonas UTA ​​statistics in the elderly:

Pseudomonas is the cause of seven to ten percent of urinary tract infections in the elderly living in hospitals, nursing homes, and support and care centers.

The most common infectious agent in UTIs is Escherichia coli, which Doctors call it E. coli for short, and E. coli is the cause of 90% of all urinary tract infections.

However, the most common cause of urinary tract infections in the elderly who are hospitalized for more than a week is Pseudomonas.

Pseudomonas infection can spread in the blood, Pseudomonas can be life threatening.

Extensive Pseudomonas infections are very difficult to treat. Pseudomonas is resistant to common types of antibiotics, sometimes several antibiotics are needed to treat it.

Although urinary tract infections are said to be rare in men under the age of 60, it should be noted that Inflammation of the prostate, or so-called prostatitis, can cause UTI-like symptoms.

But you may ask, is a healthy person’s urine sterile?

Urine in a healthy person will be very close to sterile, and the main factor in keeping urine sterile is regular urination and bladder emptying.

It is said that because most men and women over the age of sixty-five have bladder emptying disorders, the prevalence of UTIs will be similar in both sexes.

Therefore, the inability to empty the urine and bladder causes the bacteria that are on the skin around the outer opening of the urethra to reach the bladder and become infectious. These infections can spread from the ureters to the kidneys.

The following conditions will increase the likelihood of this problem:

Treatment with corticosteroids

In urinary tract infections in environments outside of sanitariums and hospitals and supportive care centers and nursing homes, seventy to ninety percent of urinary tract infections are caused by the E. coli bacterium, which enters the urinary tract from the intestines.

And in these environments and hospitals, unfortunately, UTI Pseudomonas threatens the elderly and is difficult to treat.

This infection is common in people with Alzheimer’s disease and after strokes.

We said that if there is more than 100,000 bacteria in the urine cc, a urinary tract infection or UTI will be diagnosed.

Older people who have urinary or vascular catheters will have an increased risk of developing Pseudomonas UTI. Forty percent of all nosocomial infections are said to be catheter-associated UTIs or CAUTIs.

 

Symptoms of Pseudomonas urinary tract infection in adults

And

 

If UTI reaches the kidney tissue from the urethra and bladder and kidney tissue infection or Pyelonephritis develops, what symptoms may be added to the above manifestations?

In the elderly, lethargy, loss of appetite, flushed skin, and inability to perform daily tasks should make you suspect the possibility of UTIs.

If the elderly person is in the hospital, or if he or she is diabetic, if he or she has Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, and has heart or lung disease and disorders, there is a high probability of UAI Pseudomonas.

 

Diagnosis

The best method of diagnosis is urinalysis in addition to the request for urine culture and examination for the presence of Pseudomonas.

Routine blood cell counts and blood cultures are required.

Ultrasound and… will sometimes be used to evaluate possible complications or to detect the presence of underlying disorders in the bladder, ureters, kidneys, and prostate.

 

Pseudomonas UTI treatment

Combination therapy with a variety of antibiotics is required to manage Pseudomonas infection.

Pseudomonas is resistant to common antibiotics, the combination of gentamicin, colicitina, ciprofloxacin and amikacin is used. In severe and very critical cases, imipenem can be prescribed.