Urinary tract infections are the most common bacterial infection in women — and one of the most over-treated with the wrong antibiotic in Lagos. At Mascot Healthcare, we test your urine, identify the bacteria, and prescribe the antibiotic it is actually sensitive to. From ₦5,000, same day.
The most classic UTI symptom — a burning or stinging sensation during urination caused by bacterial inflammation of the urethral lining.
Urine test + antibioticThe urge to urinate every few minutes — even producing very little urine each time — is a sign of bladder irritation from infection.
Urine test + treatmentUrine that looks cloudy, brownish, or smells strongly indicates infection. Blood in urine (pink or red) may also occur.
Urgent urine testSuprapubic pain or pressure — the feeling of a heavy, uncomfortable bladder — is common in uncomplicated UTI.
Urine test + scan if severeFever combined with loin pain indicates the infection has reached the kidneys (pyelonephritis) — more serious than a bladder infection and requires urgent treatment.
Urgent: kidney UTIRecurrent UTIs (3+ per year) need investigation for structural causes, incomplete treatment, or antibiotic resistance.
Culture + sensitivity testingThe biggest problem with UTI management in Lagos is the widespread practice of prescribing antibiotics without a urine culture. Ciprofloxacin and co-trimoxazole — the most commonly dispensed UTI antibiotics at Lagos pharmacies — now have very high resistance rates among the bacteria that cause UTIs in Nigerian women, particularly Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
A woman who receives the wrong antibiotic may feel temporary improvement but the infection persists, ascends to the kidneys, and becomes harder to treat. This is why recurrent UTI is so common — not because the woman is particularly prone to infection, but because initial treatment was often inadequate.
At Mascot Healthcare, every UTI presentation receives a dipstick urinalysis on the same visit and, where clinically appropriate, a midstream urine sample is sent for microscopy, culture, and sensitivity (MCS). This culture result — available in 24–48 hours — identifies the specific bacteria and the antibiotics it is sensitive to. Treatment is then refined based on actual sensitivity data, not a guess.
Women with recurrent UTIs (defined as 3 or more per year, or 2 in 6 months) need a structural assessment — a kidney and bladder ultrasound — to rule out: kidney stones acting as a nidus for infection, incomplete bladder emptying (residual urine), a pelvic organ prolapse affecting bladder drainage, or an anatomical abnormality. Many women with recurrent UTI have never had this simple investigation done.
Urine test + correct antibiotic in one visit. Walk-in to Mascot Healthcare, Akoka, from ₦5,000.