Symptoms:

• Abnormal urine color -- cloudy
• Blood in the urine (hematuria)
• Foul or strong urine odor
• Frequent need to urinate (frequency)
• Need to urinate at night
• Painful urination (dysuria)
• Pressure in the lower pelvis
• Urgent need to urinate (urgency)

Other symptoms that can occur with this disease:

• Chills
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Mental changes or confusion
• Nausea and vomiting

In young girls, recurrent urinary tract infections may be a sign of a problem with the urinary tract (such as vesicoureteral reflux), and should be checked by a health care provider.

In boys, even a single urinary tract infection should be checked, because urinary tract infections in boys are very uncommon unless there are problems with the urinary tract.

Signs and tests:

Tests include:

• Abdominal ultrasound or abdominal x-ray
• Urinalysis
• Urine culture (clean catch) or catheterized urine specimen

A urine culture that is positive for more than 2 weeks, even with treatment, indicates a chronic UTI.