Are you experiencing a persistent high fever that doesn’t subside? Is it accompanied with chills and sweating? How about a sharp pain in your back or side, right below the ribs? Do you have a frequent and urgent need to urinate, which is usually painful?

If your answer is yes to all or some of the above questions, there is a possibility of kidney infection.

In this blog, we will delve deeper into understanding kidney infection, its causes and the treatment for kidney infections.

What is Kidney Infection?

Kidney Infection or Pyelonephritis is a type of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). It occurs when bacteria or viruses cause problems in one or both of your kidneys.

Most of the time, the bacteria that cause kidney infections come from another part of your urinary tract - Bladder, Ureters, or Urethra

There is a possibility for kidney Infection among women, especially a pregnant woman and people who already have a bladder infection.

They are more serious than lower Urinary Tract Infections and if you are someone with kidney infection, you need to seek proper medical treatment. Otherwise, bacteria might spread into your bloodstream, which can be dangerous and might even result in permanent kidney damage.

Causes of Kidney Infections

Bacteria are the most common cause for kidney infection. Though viruses too can cause it, they are rare in healthy people.

E.coli.,Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter, Staphylococcus are some of the bacteria which cause kidney infections.

If bacteria or viruses enter the urethra and reproduce in the bladder, it triggers an infection. This infection can travel to your kidneys. This is one of the major causes of kidney infection.

There are some other causes for kidney infections too. They are as follows :

• During sexual intercourse, bacteria can be transferred from your bowels to your genital areas.

• Urinary Tract Infection can sometimes lead to kidney infections.

• Wiping after bowel movement can accidentally transfer faeces to the urethra, which could cause infection.

• If there is an infection in any other part of your body, it can spread to your kidneys through the bloodstream.

• It is rare, but kidney infection can also happen after kidney surgery.

• Rarely, if an artificial joint or a heart valve become infected, it can lead to kidney infection.

• You can also get an infection through your skin, which then travels to your kidneys through blood. This is another rare cause of Kidney Infections.

Symptoms of Kidney Infection

You develop Kidney Infections very quickly, i.e. a day or a few hours.

Following are the symptoms of Kidney Infection :

• Fever

• Chills

• Sharp pain in you back or side or groin

• Pain or a burning feel while urinating

• Need to pee frequently and urgently

• Bloody or cloudy urine, which smells really bad

• Nausea and Vomiting

• Diarrhoea

• Inability to fully urinate

• Loss of appetite

• Fatigue or feeling week

If you have any or a group of these symptoms, consult with your doctor and take the necessary treatment.

Complications of Kidney Infection

If you have a very weak immune system, Kidney Infection can cause other complications which might be a threat to your life.

• Bacteria will start destroying your kidneys and create gas. This condition is called emphysematous pyelonephritis. This is common among people with diabetes.

• Renal papillary necrosis is a condition which damages your kidneys.

• Septicemia or Blood Poisoning - Bacteria from kidney infection spread into your bloodstream, and then into other organs.

• If a woman gets a kidney infection while she is pregnant, babies might be born early or the babies would be underweight.

Risk factors of Kidney Infection

Following are the factors which increase the risk of Kidney Infection :

• Females are more prone to kidney infection, since their urethra is shorter than that of men. Urethra is close to both vagina and anus. Both these make it easier for bacteria to enter the bladder. Pregnant women are the ones facing higher risk.

• If you have urinary tract blockage/kidney stone/narrowed urethra/enlarged prostate, your flow of urine would be slow and emptying the bladder fully becomes hard. This might lead to kidney infection.

• If you have a weak immune system due to certain medical conditions like Diabetes and HIV or because of certain medications, you are at an increased risk of kidney infection.

• Damaged nerves around the bladder make it hard to detect kidney infection.

• People with Vesicoureteral Reflux, a condition where urine flows the wrong way, is more prone to kidney infections.

Treatment for Kidney Infection

You need to consult a doctor if you have any of the above mentioned symptoms of kidney infections. If you are someone who gets Urinary Tract Infection often, then too you need to consult a healthcare provider.

If not treated on time, the infection can become severe and can lead to health complications, which include blood poisoning, damaged body tissues and sometimes even death.

In most cases, kidney infections can be treated with antibiotics. He/she will ask you to get your urine tested.

Your doctor may prescribe any or a combination of the following antibiotics, in case you have infection :

• Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX)

• Amoxicillin or Augmentin

• Ceftriaxone or Cephalexin

• Ciprofloxacin or Levofloxacin

• Nitrofurantoin

• Fosfomycin

• Pivmecillinam hydrochloride

• Cefuroxime

• Co-amoxiclav

You may have to take antibiotics for at least 14 days.

If you are not getting any better even after antibiotics or if your infection is severe, your doctor will prescribe you further treatment .This may be staying in hospital and getting IntraVenous(IV) antibiotics.

It is important that you finish the full course of medicine.

If you get kidney infections often, you may need to consult a Urologist.