Tens of thousands of Queenslanders are attending emergency departments for urinary tract infections (UTIs) each year, despite treatments being available through general practitioners or at pharmacies.
Queensland Health data shows UTIs have been among the top 10 reasons why people visit the state's public hospital emergency departments for the past four years.
More than 24,000 people were treated at Queensland public hospital EDs for UTIs in 2020 and that number is expected to increase this year.
Logan Hospital emergency department registrar Sajid Chowdhury said UTIs were usually caused by bacteria, such as e-Coli.
He said while the infections could be painful and sometimes serious, simple measures could be taken to prevent them, such as drinking plenty of water.
Dr Chowdhury advised people to go to the toilet when they needed to rather than "holding it in", and also after sex, particularly for women.
"Make sure you're wiping from front to back after the toilet to ensure no bacteria is getting into the urethra and making its way up to the bladder," he said.
UTI symptoms can include pain, stinging or burning during urination, cloudy urine, feeling like you need to urinate more often than normal but only passing a few drops, unusually smelling urine and having blood in your urine.
Dr Chowdhury said people who attended an emergency department with a urinary tract infection could wait hours to be seen.
"They can get the same answer, and wait a lot less time, by seeing a GP or a pharmacist," he said.
Treatments can include antibiotics prescribed by a GP to address the bacterial infection, but over-the-counter therapies are also available from pharmacists, such as special drinks to help flush the urinary tract and medications to reduce pain and fever.
Dr Chowdhury advised patients to consult a GP if they were experiencing UTIs regularly.
He said women were more likely to develop UTIs than men.
"The risk changes throughout life," Dr Chowdhury said, adding that women were particularly vulnerable to UTIs after menopause.
