What does bacteriuria mean?
Bacteriuria is the medical term for the presence of bacteria in urine. It may occur with symptoms of a urinary tract infection, such as painful or frequent urination, or without symptoms. The latter, called asymptomatic bacteriuria, is clinically important because a positive urine culture alone does not establish that an infection is causing harm. In diagnosis, clinicians therefore consider symptoms, urine findings, bacterial counts, and the patient’s context. Bacteriuria is used especially in urology, infectious disease, and antenatal care, where screening can identify people at increased risk of complications. The word is formal and technical, but useful because it names a condition distinctly from the broader clinical diagnosis of a urinary tract infection. Knowing the term helps explain why a urine test may be clinically significant even when a person feels well, and why “bacteria in urine” should not automatically be equated with symptomatic disease.
nounThe presence of bacteria in urine. It may be asymptomatic or associated with a urinary tract infection.
- The presence of bacteria in urine, with or without urinary symptoms.
"Routine testing revealed asymptomatic bacteriuria in the patient."
"Asymptomatic bacteriuria is routinely screened for during pregnancy because it can increase the risk of urinary tract infection."
"The laboratory reported persistent bacteriuria, and the clinician reviewed the culture results and the patient's symptoms."
The plural is grammatically possible but uncommon; in clinical writing, bacteriuria is normally treated as a mass noun.
"The study recorded bacteriurias in two older residents."
A urine test can find bacteria without any urinary symptoms—so bacteriuria is not automatically a urinary tract infection.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does bacteriuria come from?
Bacteriuria was formed in New Latin from Greek bakterion, meaning a small rod or staff, and -uria, a medical suffix associated with urine. The first component is also the source of bacterial, bacterium, and bacteriology. The suffix ultimately derives from Greek ouron, meaning urine.
Related word forms
How bacteriuria is actually used
Primarily a formal clinical term used in diagnostics, urine testing, and discussions of urinary tract infection. The presence of bacteria in urine does not by itself establish that symptoms are being caused by an infection.
Easily confused with bacteriuria
Bacteriuria is the presence of bacteria in urine, whereas bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the bloodstream.