• A new study found that E. coli-contaminated meat could be causing half a million urinary tract infections per year in the United States
• Foodborne E. coli causing UTIs is a strange idea for scientists to consider
• The infection is generally uncomfortable but, in rare cases, could be fatal

A new study says that E. coli-contaminated meat is the cause of more than half a million cases of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the United States every year.

This infection is known to be an uncomfortable nuisance and is caused by the same bacteria that could result in the death of an individual. In a statement, the director of George Washington University's (GWU) Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, professor Lance Price, said that the idea of foodborne E. coli causing UTI is strange.

UTI from E. Coli Contaminated Meat

He noted that the study provided compelling evidence that dangerous strains of the bacteria are traveling from food animals to humans through the food supply. This is causing more people to be sick and sometimes severely sick.

At least one in five women is expected to have at least one UTI in their lifetime. On the other hand, people with diabetes and men with enlarged prostate glands are at an increased risk of developing the infection, which can range from uncomfortable to fatal, as per the New York Post.

Researchers associated with GWU's Milken Institute School of Public Health have already started understanding why E. coli infections happen. The pathogen, which makes its home inside the gut, travels out through an individual's bowels to make its way to the urinary tract, where it causes an infection.

If UTI is left untreated, the E. coli bacteria can enter a person's bloodstream to cause a more severe infection and, in some cases, even death. But the recently published study on Thursday seeks to determine just how the UTI-causing strain of E. coli enters a human's gut in the first place.

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Rare Instances of Fatalities

The team collected urine and blood samples from 1,188 patients hospitalized with UTI in Flagstaff, Arizona. One thousand nine hundred twenty-three E. coli were drawn from raw chicken, turkey, and pork bought at the local supermarkets.

Researchers discovered after ten years of parsing data that 8% of E. coli urinary tract infections in the United States, which come to roughly 480,000 to 640,000 cases, are caused by strains coming from meat, according to CNN.

The team did not find that E. coli in meat causes a greater UTI rate, and the findings only indicate why some infections could happen. A professor of urology and obstetrics and gynecology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Craig Comiter, who was not involved in the study, said that even if these bacteria did not exist, it does not mean there would be 8% fewer infections.

Common symptoms of UTI include cloudy or foul-smelling urine, pain or burning sensation when urinating, abdominal pressure, and a persistent urge to go to the toilet. Fox News said the infection does not typically cause severe illness but can sometimes cause kidney failure.

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