What is recurrent urinary tract infection?

Women with bladder infections that come back (recur) may be treated with preventive antibiotic therapy. When a man has a UTI that comes back, it can be a sign of prostate infection (prostatitis). Long-term prostatitis can be hard to treat. Follow-up checkups are needed for men if the infection recurs.

UTIs are caused by bacteria that get into your urine and then travel to your bladder. Women who have UTIs that keep coming back (recur) may have inherited genes that make them more likely to get these infections. UTIs that recur in men can be a sign of prostate infection (prostatitis).

A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that occurs when germs (called bacteria) get into the urinary tract. When you have a UTI several times within a year, it's called a recurrent UTI.