Twenty to 30 percent of females have a UTI at least once during their lifetimes. In the college population, the group most commonly affected is the sexually active female. The explanation for this is anatomy. Both of these infections are seen and treated at VCU Student Health clinics and will be described further under Symptoms and Treatment. A person with a UTI may experience only one or two of these symptoms, or she or he may be unfortunate enough to have them all.
Symptoms can be very mild in some cases and more severe in others.
When a person arrives at Student Health with any of the above symptoms, a history and physical exam are done. In addition, a urine sample is analyzed in the lab for signs of infection. If there are symptoms of a kidney infection or any other complications, a sample of the urine will be sent to the lab for culture. If the diagnosis is cystitis, the person is placed on an antibiotic for 7-10 days. If there is a lot of pain with urination, another medication, phenazopyridine, may be given to help reduce this pain.