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I am my Father's caregiver. He has had UTI since October 2014. Will this cause death?

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Yes, it can. UTI's that are not taken care of get worse, they spread to the bladder (bladder infection) and kidneys (kidney infection, which is quite painful) and in the end stage cause sepsis, which is fatal. Sepsis is basically s a blood infection. The entire body ends up with inflammation. This can cause septic shock which is basically the inflammation causing blood clots as the body attempts to repair itself, and those clots can end up anywhere, in the lungs (pulmonary embolism which blocks oxygen to the brain), heart attack (blood clot in the heart) or stroke (blood clot in the brain). This can be fatal.

UTI's need to be treated immediately. Often, one round of treatment is not enough, especially in the elderly. They may require many rounds of antibiotics (the correct one for the infection they have) or even IV antibiotics on an in patient basis.

Signs in the elderly of UTI are confusion, hallucinations and increased dementia that come on quickly and without explanation. In younger people it can be fever, pain or burning while urinating, frequency, urgency, etc. If the infection gets out of hand you can see increased heart rate, breathing problems, weakness, or loss of consciousness.

Angel
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YIKES. I knew that these are nasty but did not know that they could lead to death. Thank you for posting this info!
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Yes, it is true that UTIs can progress to Sepsis. It is also true that many elderly will routinely show bacteria in the urine lab test, but not have any symptoms of a UTI (frequent urination, pain or burning with urination, fever etc). If your Dad's urine lab test shows that he has bacteria (indicates a probable UTI) and your doc is not treating it, be sure and ask the doc why. Treatment guidelines often change and it could be that your doc is following the most current guideline for treating UTIs in the elderly.
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Thanks Guys! This is good Info.
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Yes it can cause death. A lady in her mid 50s, known to me for last 25 years, died today in a hospital today in Kolkata, India. Initially she suffered from vague symptoms and was treated with common oral antibiotics to which she showed sensitivity in Urine Culture. The problem continued for almost a month and was treated with at least three antibiotics, all oral. The picture of drug resistance gradually came to light in successive culture reports. She was hospitalised then, IV antibiotics started, the whole spectrum of antibiotics got exhausted, she got sepsis, kept on ventillation and died after a stay of 21 days in hospital.
Another 70yr old lady, after 7 days of vague symptoms of UTI has jumped straight to Sepsis. She in crical condition in ITU of a city hospital.
UTI CAN NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY AT ANY STAGE.
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My elderly father-in-law frequently gets UTI's. The last time he had one, he also had chills and didn't feel "right". He went to the doctor. The doctor ran a blood test and found a high amount of Triponin. He was hospitalized. For 2 days, the doctors only looked at his heart because of the Triponin level.

Finally, they started to treat his UTI. He became so weak that he could not walk anymore. He slept a lot. He lost 15 pounds in a week. He became confused. He did not have the strength to speak louder than a soft whisper. I thought he was about to die. Then, he got gout...

After almost 2 weeks, he was transferred to a rehab facility for a month. He did recover fully. But, he doesn't remember most of his time at the hospital and rehab center.
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I had a kidney stone, went to the ER and was given an antibiotic for a possible kidney infection. The name of the antibiotic was Ciprofloxcian (one of six Floroquinolones). The antibiotic crippled me to the point where I couldn't walk for a month. I still can't walk normal and can't stand in one spot for more than a minute. This might be a permanent situation. These drugs have crippled a ton of people including putting them in wheel chairs, ringing in ears, eye sight, nightmares and suicidal thoughts. Do some research before taking anything.
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