What Is a Bladder Infection?
A bladder infection is an illness that is usually caused by bacteria. Bladder infections are the most common type of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children. A UTI can develop in any part of your child’s urinary tract, including the urethra, bladder, ureters, or kidneys.
All healthy children have some bacteria on their bodies and in their bowels. Occasionally, bacteria can get into the bladder and start an infection. Children of any age can and do develop bladder infections, including infants.
Your child’s body has ways to defend against infection. For example, urine normally flows from your child’s kidneys, through the ureters, to the bladder. Bacteria that enter the urinary tract are flushed out when your child urinates. This one-way flow of urine keeps bacteria from infecting the urinary tract.
Sometimes the body’s defenses fail and the bacteria cause a bladder infection. If your child has symptoms of a bladder infection, or has a fever without a clear cause, see a health care professional within 24 hours.
Getting treatment right away for an infection in your child’s urethra or bladder can prevent a kidney infection. A kidney infection can develop from an infection that moves upstream to one or both kidneys. Kidney infections are often very painful and can be dangerous and cause serious health problems, so it’s best to get early treatment when your child has a bladder infection.
A health care professional is likely to treat your child’s bladder infection with antibiotics, a type of medicine that fights bacteria. It’s important for your child to take every dose on time and to finish all of the medicine.
Source: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)