Can a man get UTI?

Question

Hello doctor,

I am a 33 year old male. Two months ago, I had discomfort under the right testicle. I ignored it as it was not much painful. I went to my physician, and I had a urine test. It came back with white and red blood cells. The doctor said that I have a urinary infection, and he gave me Ciprofloxacin 500 mg, twice a day for 10 days. He asked me to come back to do a test for the prostate if it was infected or not. I got way better, although, little pain under the right testicle was still present. After two weeks, the symptoms started to return with new ones, like low stream flow when I urinate, and I cannot empty my entire bladder. I had an urgency to go to the bathroom, and not much was coming out, and pain in the rectal area. I had a urine test, and it came back fine with no infection or blood or anything.

How come I have UTI since I am male and 33 years old, and I was not involved in sex or anything? How come the doctor just put me on Ciprofloxacin, and she was not sure if the prostate was inflamed or not? I will be having Ciprofloxacin for another month and a half. How to know for sure if I have acute bacterial prostatitis or just regular prostatitis? Can I transmit this to my wife by having sex? I am not having sex now, as part of my treatment, but can I have sex? I have stomach problems and IBS, and I do not know if this is related to UTI. How can I tell what caused my UTI, since my doctor did not do any urine and a semen culture? She just put me on Ciprofloxacin for a long time. She is just a general practitioner and not a specialist. Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

This is no reason that since you are male and not involved in sex, you cannot have UTI (urinary tract infection). The bacteria can transmit from anywhere, like if you have constipation or when you are dehydrated, or your blood sugar level is high. UTI is less common in males, but they do occur. Your doctor has put you on an empirical treatment for UTI thinking it is because of E.coli, which will be sensitive to a broad spectrum antibiotic like Ciprofloxacin. But ideally, culture should have been done. Digital rectal examination of the prostate should also have been done. To diagnose acute bacterial prostatitis, the doctor should have given you a prostate massage followed by urine sample collection, and get urinalysis from it. Yes, you can transmit UTI to your wife in an acute phase. But, if you have started Ciprofloxacin, then the chances are less. If you have constipation, it may be related to UTI. Without a urine culture, you cannot tell which bacteria has caused the infection. Do test your sugar levels also by HbA1C test.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

Now the chances of urine positivity after the prostate massage is less, as you are already on Ciprofloxacin for more than three weeks. It should have been done before starting antibiotic if prostatitis was suspected. 25 days of Ciprofloxacin is enough time to make your urinary passage sterile. But, we do not know whether bacteria is sensitive to Ciprofloxacin or not, as urine culture and sensitivity was not done. Since you are not sure about this, I would suggest you use condoms for a month. After a month, you can repeat the urine test to see if pus cells have disappeared.

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