How does the infection get into the urinary tract?

In a healthy person, the urinary tract and urine are sterile. When excreted, urine leaves and washes the pathways, washing away everything harmful that may be there. However, sometimes the infection still gets to us. Most often this is the so-called ascending path. From the name it is clear that bacteria go up from the external genital organs through the urethra. So they cause urethritis, cystitis. Due to the fact that the length of the urethra in women is much shorter than in men, these infections are more likely to affect women. Much less often, the infection can come from neighboring organs or from blood or lymph from distant organs.