Incidence

  • Urinary tract infections (UTIs) account for more than 5 million office visits in the United States every year
  • About half of all adult women report that they have had a urinary tract infection at some time during their life
  • The prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria is about 1 to 2 percent in newborns
  • After the first year of life, infections are more common in females
  • During the ages 5 to 18 years, the prevalence is 1.2 percent in girls, fourfold the rate found in boys
  • The prevalence of bacteriuria in females rises about 1 percent per decade, up to almost 10 percent in elderly women
  • 20 percent of the women who develop a urinary tract infection will have frequent recurrences of infection (every 2 to 4 months) following the initial episode

References