Oxytoca & Urinary Tract Infections

Urinary tract infections are common inflammations of the urinary system caused by the spread of bacteria from the skin or the intestinal tract. The most common cause of a urinary tract infection is E. coli but other types of bacteria can be the culprits too. One of these types is called klebsiella oxytoca.
  1. Urinary Tract Infections

    • There are three types of urinary tract infections. Urethritis is the most common. It affects the urethra, the tube that excretes urine from your bladder. Urethritis often develops into cystitis if left untreated. Cystitis is the inflammation of the urinary bladder. If the infection continues to worsen, it can develop into pyelonephritis, infection of the kidneys and ureters. As a rule, the higher up your urinary tract infection travels, the more complicated it has become. Untreated kidney infections can lead to kidney disease or total renal failure.

    Oxytoca

    • Klebsiella Oxytoca (often shortened to oxytoca) is a type of bacteria in the klebsiella family that is very similar to klebsiella pneumoniae. This kind of bacteria is normally found in the intestines and is required for normal bowel function. They can be spread from the anus and stool into the urethra and cause infection. Klebsiella bacteria usually colonize people with weakened immune systems. For this reason, klebsiella oxytoca urinary tract infections often occur in hospital patients or people who are already sick.

    Symptoms

    • Your klebsiella oxytoca urinary tract infection can make itself known in many ways, but it will usually give you the urge to urinate frequently. Even though you feel like you have to urinate all the time, little or no urine may come out. When you do urinate, you may experience a burning sensation. Your urine may also appear darker or smellier than usual. In some cases, you may even see blood in your urine.

    Diagnosis

    • If you suspect that you have contracted a klebsiella oxytoca urinary tract infection, your health care provider will ask for a urine sample. Analysis of your urine will determine if you have infection causing bacteria in your urinary system. Further testing can involve a urine culture, where those bacteria are grown in a lab setting. This allows your health care provider to confirm that the bacteria are klebsiella oxytoca. In some cases, he may even test certain medications on the lab-grown bacteria to see how effective they would be on your infection.

    Treatment

    • Since klebsiella oxytoca urinary tract infections often occur in people whose immune systems are already weakened, it is not advisable to try to treat them with home remedies. Most health care providers will advise a course of prescription antibiotics. However, klebsiella oxytoca infections are resistant to many antibiotics, including penicillin and penicillin type antibiotics. A mixture of the antibiotics sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim is sometimes used to treat klebsiella oxytoca urinary tract infection.

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