Symptoms that may need assessment
- Burning or pain while passing urine
- Needing to pass urine often, and urgently, with little coming out
- Cloudy, strong-smelling or blood-stained urine
- Pain low in the abdomen or over the pubic bone
- Fever with chills and pain in the side — possible signs of kidney infection
How it is assessed
Assessment uses your symptoms, medical history and examination, with urine tests where needed. A urine culture can identify bacteria and help guide antibiotic selection; results usually take a few days. Recurrent infections may need further tests, such as imaging or an assessment of bladder emptying, to look for a contributing cause.
How it is treated
A bacterial infection may need antibiotics selected after clinical assessment and adjusted when culture results are available. Take medicines as prescribed and follow advice on fluids, especially if you have kidney or heart problems. A kidney infection or severe illness may need hospital treatment. Treating contributing problems, such as a stone or poor bladder emptying, can help reduce recurrent infections.
