Pregnancy is another time of risk for cystitis. Men get cystitis later in life and it is quite common in elderly people, particularly if they are unwell and in a nursing home or hospital. Bladder catheters and some urinary tract operations may also predispose to attacks. The symptoms are burning pain with passage of urine and a feeling of having to pass urine frequently, although sometimes there may only be a few drops. There may be a feeling that the bladder isn't empty and sometimes pain above the pubic bone.
Some people also get fever and some get blood in the urine.
This may mean the inflammation is intense, but can also indicate bladder or kidney disease apart from cystitis and needs to be discussed with your doctor. Most of these are organisms that come from the bowel. They can live on the skin around the urethra and sometimes spread up the urethra to the bladder. The urethra is short in women and sexual intercourse can push organisms up the urethra since it is situated just in front of the vagina, hence the greater frequency of cystitis in women. In some cases of cystitis we cannot isolate a germ.