UTI's send people to the doctor over nine and a half million times a year. Women are most at risk. In men the prostate is also considered part of the urinary tract and can be infected. Causes Urine is normally sterile. That means it doesn't contain living organisms such as bacteria, viruses or fungi.
Infections occur when something gets into the system and starts to multiply.
You've heard of it as E. coli. When it shows up in water supplies and foods it can make people sick even kill those with weak immune systems. Most of the time the infection begins in the urethra. If it stays there it's called urethritis. If it spreads up to the bladder it is called cystitis.