Prostatitis, too, can be caused either by sexually transmitted or by nonsexually transmitted bacteria. Younger, sexually active men are more likely to have prostatitis from a sexually transmitted cause (such as bacteria that cause gonorrhea, chlamydia, or nongonococcal urethritis), and older men are more likely to have prostatitis from a nonsexually transmitted bacterium such as Escherichia coh, although older men who have unprotected sex with a new partner can develop a sexually transmitted prostate infection. As discussed previously, older men are more likely to have benign prostate enlargement, which predisposes them to UTIs. Prostate infection can result from urethral infection, bladder infection, or possibly seeding of the prostate with bacteria that are transmitted through the blood. Bacterial prostate infections can become chronic.

Some prostate inflammation is not caused by bacteria but rather by viruses, fungus, trichomonas, or tuberculosis; there are also other possibilities that are not yet well understood. Prostate pain does not necessarily indicate prostate infection. Before antibiotics became available, prostatitis was a common complication of urethral infection with sexually transmitted bacteria. Now the likelihood of developing prostatitis after a sexually transmitted urethral infection is about 1 percent. Prompt treatment of bacterial urethritis further decreases the chances of this happening.

*167\213\8*