A Frequent E coli case Among women in Nigeria

Question:  I observe have been having this recurrent infection not on my vagina but I could feel the symptoms on my vagina .I happen to live separately from my husband and we only see twice in a month (on weekends) I noticed that each time I returned back to my station I normally have this frequent and uncontrolled urine; the type that could make a woman want to wee besides the road not minding if people are there.

The urine when it comes out hurts my vagina, I would feel this strange urge that my lower abdominal tommy needs urgent help as the urine comes out. The urine also smells and the colour is off yellow.  I normally treat this with antibiotics and it will go. Recently antibiotics stopped working on me. This made me to conclude it was a sexually transmitted disease. I stopped having sex with my husband for three months and during that period I was okay but as soon as I resumed sex with him it started again. I had confronted him several time of STD which made him to take me to the doctor. The doctor said it was not STD and that it was urinary tract infection. I found it difficult to believe it wasn’t STD. He said it was caused by too much sex. Can sex cause urinary tract infection?




Response: Urinary tract infection is caused by bacteria (commonly; Eschericha coli) from the large intestine which are able to escape through the anus or during sexual intercourse to the urethra (a short tube that carries urine from the bladder outside the body), then to the bladder and kidney if care is not taken. I guess that was what your doctor meant. UTI is not a sexually transmitted disease. Female anatomy needs to be thoroughly understood so as to be able to know that the bacteria in question just want to escape using any of the perennial area and it could have happened without sexual intercourse. Urethra is short and close to the anus, the bacteria that causes UTI can still penetrate to the bladder if good hygiene is not maintained. Women who are fond of cleaning from back of their anus to the front after using the toilets are more likely to be prone to UTI. Hence women should always clean from front to the back. Women should ensure they urinate after sex.

The frequent recurrence of UTI needs to be thoroughly evaluated as it might be groups of bacterial (Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus faecalis) forming an association resistance to antibiotics and to the body immune system. Another factor that can cause recurrence of UTI is post- menopausal atrophy and a change in vagina PH. UTI can also be very dangerous to the fetus during pregnancy as acute pyelonenphritis can cause serious complication. Kindly visit a specialist for the case of recurrence urinary tract infection especially in pregnancy. You can also click on our consultation button to speak to a specialist.