Kidney Infection

To work out ifyou havea kidney infection, your GP will ask you about your symptoms and your recent medical history.

They will usually also assess your general health by taking your temperature and measuring your blood pressure.

Urine test

A urine test can help to establishwhether you have a urinary tract infection (UTI) . The test involves taking a small sample of urine and checking it to see ifthere areany bacteria in it.

You'll be given a container and told how to collect the urine, which you can do in the surgery or at home. If you do it at home, you'll need to label the container, seal it in a plastic bag and store it in the fridge. Ideally, hand it in tothe surgery within four hours.

For your GP to be confident you have a kidney infection, you need to have a positive urine test pluscertain symptoms, such as a fever or a pain in your side.

Hospital scans

You may be referred to hospital for further testing if:

• your symptoms fail to respond to treatment with antibiotics
• your symptoms suddenly get worse
• you have additional symptoms that aren't usually associated with a kidney infection
• you'reat risk of complications of a kidney infection

Children with recurrent UTIs will also be referred to hospital for further testing.

In these circumstances,scans can check your urinary tract for signs of problems. This may include:

• a computer tomography (CT) scan wherea scanner takes a series of X-rays and a computer is used to assemble them into a detailed image ofyour urinary tract
• an ultrasound scan which uses sound waves to buildan image of the inside of your body
• an isotope scan wherea dye is injected into the bloodstream and a series of X-rays are taken

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