A bladder infection of the kind Prince Philip has is common among older men, according to experts. The 90-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth was admitted to the hospital earlier this week in the midst of his wife’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Men who have bladder infections have difficulty urinating because of an enlarged prostate that makes it easier for bacteria to invade the body. Most often the infection is treated with antibiotics on an outpatient basis. A delay in detecting the infection could require hospitalization.
But a urologist told the website MedPage today that even if the Prince’s infection wasn’t serious, the fact that he is in his 90s would mean almost routine hospitalization.
"Our threshold for admitting somebody in their 90s is very low," Elizabeth Kavaler, MD, a urologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, told the website. "Any question, we admit them because they're fragile.”
Patients who are hospitalized are given IV antibiotics as well as hydration. Kavaler said the normal time for a hospital stay is three days, as doctors check whether the infection has spread and see if a patient can now completely empty his bladder.
A brief news release from Buckingham Palace seemed to bear this out, saying that Prince Philip’s condition “has improved considerably since coming into hospital on Monday. The treatment of his infection continues with antibiotics. He is likely to remain in hospital over the next few days.”
