Personal Statement: Urinary Tract Infection

Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) are miserable. Recurrent ones are a whole other level of misery. But, you don't have to just resign yourself to suffering. Many people have managed to stop having a UTI every time they turn around by making changes to their diet and hygiene habits.

Antibiotics are inarguably one of the greatest advances in medical science of the past century. Although the first natural antibiotic Penicillin was not discovered until 1928 by Scottish biologist Alexander Flemming, evidence exists that certain plant and mold growths were used to treat infections in ancient Egypt, ancient India, and classical Greece (Forrest, 1982). In our modern world with the advent of synthetic chemistry synthetic antibiotics like Erithromycin and its derivative Azithromycin have been developed. Antibiotics have many uses including the treatment of bacterial and protozoan infection, in surgical operations and prophylactically to prevent the development of an infection. Through these applications, antibiotics have saved countless lives across the world and radically altered the field of medicine. Though a wonderful and potentially lifesaving tool, antibiotic use is not without its disadvantages. Mankind has perhaps been too lax in regulation and too liberal in application of antibiotics and growing antibiotic resistance is the price we must now pay. A recent study showed that perhaps 70% of bacterial infections acquired during hospital visits in the United States are resistant to at least one class of antibiotic (Leeb, 2004). Bacteria are not helpless and their genetic capabilities have allowed them to take advantage of society’s overuse of antibiotics, allowing them to develop

The superbug poses a huge threat to society in many ways and it raises many issues. How should the patient be handled? How many different types of antibiotics are too much for a person to retain? How can people living in poverty prevent the spread of bacteria? The rise of the superbug produces numerous questions surrounding the care of patients and the fast spread of the resistant bacteria. The way scientists and doctors treat and care for their patients should be top priority, but when the patient is either living in poverty or in an area with limited resources it becomes difficult. In many poor cultures the superbug is growing much faster because they don’t necessarily have the understanding to prevent the spread of bacteria. In places like India and Pakistan antibiotics can be bought readily at pharmacies without prescriptions. Because many people think antibiotics can cure anything they use them inappropriately, therefore creating an environment for the bacteria to grow resistant. This is a major issue in Southern Asia as the rise of superbugs is much faster here than other countries. Reasons for this include the ease of access to antibiotics, the method of isolation for patients with

In the human body, there are systems that provide different functions and help the body to operate more efficiently. The urinary system is one in particular designed to help the body remain free of excess that we no longer need. “The urinary tract is the drainage system used for removing wastes and extra water. The urinary tract includes two kidneys, two ureters, a bladder, and a urethra. The kidneys are a pair of “bean-shaped” organs, each about the size of a fist. The kidneys are located below the ribs, one on each side of the spine, towards the middle of the back.” (NIDDK, 2013) Every several minutes, your kidneys filter around three ounces of blood, also then removing wastes and extra water. That extra water and

This journal entry will provide an overview of my personal goals and vision as it relates to becoming a professional in public health. Give a brief synopsis of how the media interviews given by the faculty and health professionals impacted my view of public health. The understanding I wish to garner through this class and the entire Master of Public Health (MPH) program entirely. Finally, discuss the professional contributions I aspire to make in public health.

A urinary tract infection (UTI) can develop into a very uncomfortable and very bothersome condition. The urinary system consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and/or urethra. These organs play an important role in filtering blood and eliminating waste from the body. The kidneys are a pair of small bean shaped organs located on both sides of the spine at waist level. They have several important functions in the body, including removing waste and excess water from the blood and eliminating them as urine. The ureters are responsible for carrying urine from the kidneys to the bladder. Lastly, the bladder. The bladder's walls relax and grow to store urine, and contract and compress to empty urine through the urethra. The urethra allows urine to pass outside the body.

A Urinary tract infection (UTI) including the bladder and kidneys, is an infection that encompasses the entire urinary system. The kidneys and bladder filter the blood to make Urine. A urinary catheter is a thin tube placed in the bladder to drain urine. Urine drains through the tube into a bag where the urine collects. When the whole system is compromised, a patient can become very ill. A catheter provides a link between the outside environment and a usually sterile system. Now that the catheter is in place, microorganisms are no longer removed by normal voiding. Germs do not usually live in the region of the urinary system, but when they are re-introduced through the absence of voiding, infection becomes a problem. A urinary catheter may be used when you cannot urinate on your own, to measure the amount of urine you produce, during and after certain types of surgery and during testing of the urinary system. Health care associated infections(HAIs) are an on-going issue, specifically the prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). Simply put, those with catheters have a higher chance of obtaining a CAUTI than patients who do not.

Widespread use of antibiotics has been very controversial in the media as well in the general population. Due to these controversies, it is very misunderstood to how antibiotics work leading to many patients in the hospital setting wanting to take them when it is not necessary or refusing to take when it is necessary for their survival. Some of this controversy is due to antibiotic resistance, which has spread an alarming rate in the 21st century (Walsh, 2000). Antibiotic resistance is the result of very strong bacteria or microbes that are resistant to the antibiotic prescribed and those microbes accumulate overtime by their survival, reproduction and transfer, leading to increased levels of antibiotic resistance.

A urinary tract infection or UTI is an infection that can happen anywhere along the urinary tract. Your urinary tract is the system that makes urine and carries it out of your body. Urinary tract infections can have different names, depending on what part of the urinary tract is infected. The infection can be in the bladder, kidneys, ureters, or the urethra. If the infection is in the bladder it is called cystitis or a bladder infection. If the infection is in the kidneys is it called pyelonephritis or a kidney infection. If the infection is in the urethra it is called urethritis. Most urinary tract infections are bladder infections. Infections in the ureters are very rare.

The scope, history, and duration of catheter associated urinary tract infections is reviewed. The scope of catheter associated urinary tract infections is when an individual acquires an infection that has been caused by the insertion of a catheter. The individual may have had the catheter in place for a short period of time and acquired it upon insertion related to the lack of sterile technique. However, the individual also may have had the catheter in place over a long period of time and acquired an infection. Roger, Feneley, Hopley, and Wells (2015) explain that the body’s natural flora is disrupted from ascending in the urinary tract and colonizing a bacterial infection during normal bladder emptying. However, if a catheter is in place this allows for easy ascending bacteria to colonize and form an infection, and

Urinary tract infections are a major health concern to the general public. Many people do not need any treatment; others might only need antibiotic therapy, which others get admitted to the hospital. Urinary tract infection admission rates are a concern for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. They have developed a quality indicator about the admissions of UTIs to “highlight potential quality concerns, identify areas that need further study and investigations, and track changes over time” (AHRQ). To ensure a change takes place in the number of admissions for these infections, education is the most valuable tool.

Bacterial urinary tract infections represent the most common type of nosocomial infections. Often, the ability of bacteria to both establish and maintain these infections are directly related to biofilm formation on indwelling devices or within the urinary tract itself (30). Enterococci (especially E. faecalis) are one of the main causative agents of urinary tract infection and Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) besides gram-negative pathogens (31, 32). In these infections Biofilm provides a favorable milieu for microbial survival within the host as the organisms are shielded from the host immune response, as well as antibiotics and antimicrobial agents (33, 34). Several studies conducted to introduce main virulence genes of enterococci that are associated with biofilm formation in these bacteria (11, 13,-17), but virulence mechanism and related genes for biofilm formation are not well understood (35). In this study we investigated biofilm formation of clinical enterococci isolates isolated from Urinary tract infections. These strains were characterized for presence of adhesions and secretory virulence factors. Isolates had diverse presence of virulence from lack to highest amount of virulence genes. Several previous studies investigated relation of virulence genes and biofilm formation, especially presence of esp and gel. Enterococci esp has been implicated as a contributing factor in colonization and persistence of infection within the urinary tract

The overuse of antibiotics has been a problem for well over a decade. This misuse leads to many nonvisible problems arising within the human population. As the use of antibiotics increases, the number of antibiotic resistant bacteria also increases. When bacteria become resistant to an antibiotic, another antibiotic must be used to try and kill it and the cycle becomes vicious. Michael Martin, Sapna Thottathil, and Thomas Newman stated that antimicrobial resistance is, “an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors and society” (2409).

“ the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the individual in principles of personal hygiene, the organization of medical and nursing service for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease, and the development of the social machinery which will ensure to every individual in the community, a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of

According the World Health Organization (WHO), antibiotic resistance is one of the world’s greatest health threats to date (Haddox, 2013). In the article, The Health Threat of Antibiotic Resistance, Gail Haddox (2013) discusses the danger antibiotic resistance poses in today’s society and strategies to prevent the expansion of antibiotic resistance. In Europe alone, an estimated 25,000 deaths have been attributed to multi-resistant infections (Haddox, 2013). Common infections are now harder to treat due to the increased resistance to antibiotics across the world, in fact some are becoming untreatable. Antibiotics should be treated like oil, a non-renewable resource (Haddox, 2013).