CHENNAI: With summer at its peak, dysuria or pain during urination is a common health problem for people who do not drink extra fluids to make up for possible dehydration. Dysuria is often a symptom of urinary tract infections.

For 45-year-old Rani, a resident of Royapettah, symptoms of the infection manifested with irritation during urination and a mild pain in the lower abdomen. She ignored the pain for a couple of days but was shocked when she passed urine that had a reddish tinge.

A urine culture test showed that her urinary tract was infected by Escherichia coli, bacteria which had moved from the intestinal tract, where it usually lives, to the urinary tract. An important reason as to why the bacteria did not get flushed out in the initial stages of the infection was that Rani had not increased her fluid intake this summer.

Finally, it took a dose of antibiotics to treat her infection and doctors have advised her to drink plenty of water, juices and buttermilk.

"Medically, urinary tract infections are not seasonal. But dysuria, which is pain or discomfort during urination, may be more common in summer," says R. Manoraj, nephrologist. He explains that there is extra loss of water through sweat during summer and, hence people get dehydrated easily.

A patient with dysuria can submit a urine sample for a culture report, which takes 48 hours to get done. The culture identifies the infection causing bacteria and the colony count. If there is a count of more than 1,00,000 then there is every likelihood of an infection.

The culture report also tells which antibiotic will be effective against the bacteria.

Doctors also say that women need to take extra precaution as they are easily susceptible to urinary tract infection. "This is because the urethra in women is shorter when compared to men, making it easier for bacteria to spread," explains gynaecologist Nirmala Jayasankar.

A woman can also reduce chances of infection if she voids her bladder whenever it is full instead of controlling for long periods of time.

Urination after sexual intercourse is recommended as it can decrease the chance of bacteria being introduced into the bladder, said Dr. Jayasankar.

Infection in children also requires immediate care.

Parents need to keep a watch for symptoms such as cloudy urine as very young children cannot explain the problem.

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