At Soroti Regional Referral Hospital, at least 20 patients are diagnosed with UTIs daily, according the Consultant Physician, Dr. Wilson Etolu. He says that most of the patients diagnosed with UTIs present with Lower Abdominal Pain, difficulty in passing urine among other complications.
Diagnosis of Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) in patients is
worrying medics in the Teso sub region. UTIs are infections caused by bacteria,
often from the skin or rectum that enter the urethra to infect the urinary
tract. The infections affect several parts of the urinary tract especially the
bladder, resulting into frequent and painful urine.
At Soroti Regional
Referral Hospital, at least 20 patients are diagnosed with UTIs daily,
according the Consultant Physician, Dr. Wilson Etolu. He says that most of the
patients diagnosed with UTIs present with Lower Abdominal Pain, difficulty in
passing urine among other complications.
Dr. Etolu says that UTIs are quite common these days in the
health facilities compared to the past two years. He attributes the rise in UTIs
to drug abuse especially from patients who do self- medication.
// cue in “The reason why…//
Cue out…of resistance now.”//
One of the patients from Asuret Sub County in Soroti
district says that she has been diagnosed with UTIs more than six times in this
year. She says that each time she treats UTI, there’s not much improvement
after the first dose until she’s given another dose.
“Whenever I go to the health facility, they tell me to keep
hygiene and the like, but all these things don’t really add up because I’m
alone in my house," she said. "I have been to different health facilities thinking
that the first person didn’t manage my case well.”
Dr. Etolu says that they are conducting studies at different
levels of health service provision and management to ascertain the best
remedies for UTIs in different localities.
// cue in “Even us as…//
Cue out…stop self- medication.”//
In Serere district, UTIs are among the five leading diseases affecting the communities, according the Dr. Daniel Ogwal, the Acting Serere
District Health Officer. The district is most affected by malaria followed by
diarrhea and cough/pneumonia.
However, Dr. Etolu says that says that diabetes and
hypertension are also on the rise across Teso sub region.
Edward Eninu
Freelancer