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The Scenario:
Maria is a 17 year old woman who had been in a relationship with her boyfriend for a couple of months. They began to talk about whether or not they should have sex. Neither one had been sexually active before. After some uncertainty, but with plenty of enthusiasm, they decided to go ahead.
A couple of days later, Maria began to notice burning whenever she urinated. And over the next couple of days, she experienced urinary frequency, a low grade fever, and more intense burning. She had no discharge or bleeding. She went to the doctor. She was told that it was nothing too serious, and placed on a three day course of antibiotics. After the first couple of pills she felt fine again.
Questions:
Answer:
What Maria has is an infection of the urinary bladder, also known as cystitis. She has the classic symptoms. A quick check of her urine will show bacteria and leukocytes (the white blood cells used to fight infection). Cystitis is common among women, and not so common among men. Maybe it has something to do with the shorter urethra in women, and the comparative ease with which bacteria climb the urethra and get into the bladder.
What has sex got to do with it? One of our members in the know said it was from "arduous sexual activity" -- what has been called honey-mooner's cystitis. It seems that for a woman who becomes sexually active there is an increased risk for developing cystitis. It's thought that bacteria get introduced into the urethra during intercourse. Hence the advice to pee after sex in order to flush out the system and get rid of those pesky bacteria.
This is not an STD. Her boyfriend did not transmit an infection to her. The history alone may not tell you this -- you'd want to make sure it wasn't a vaginal or pelvic infection -- but the urine test helps.
Although tradition has been to treat cystitis with antibiotics for one week, this is no longer necessary. A woman without complications such as diabetes, pregnancy, or involvement of the kidneys, can be treated just as well with three days of antibiotics. And she'll get better more quickly.
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