As a rule, the farther up in the urinary tract the infection is located, the more serious it is. 1  The upper urinary tract is composed of the kidneys and ureters. 2  Infection in the upper urinary tract generally affects the kidneys (pyelonephritis), which can cause fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, and other severe symptoms.
Citrobacter freundii is a species of facultative anaerobic. Gram-negative bacilli of the Enterobacteriaceae family. The bacteria are long rod-shaped with a typical length of 1â5 Î¼m. Most C. freundii cells are surrounded by several flagella used for locomotion, but a few are not mobile.It can be found in soil, water, sewage, food, and the intestinal tracts of animals and humans.. freundii is responsible for reducing nitrate to nitrite in the environment. This conversion is an important and crucial stage in the nitrogen cycle. These bacteria also help in recycling nitrogen. C. freundii has also been investigated for biodegradation of tannic acid used in tanneries.
Most often treatment would not be indicated unless you have a symptomatic UTI with fever, chills, malaise, flank pain, elevated white blood count, etc. etc. (KLD). Citrobacter is not considered to be an enteric pathogen because it is normal gut flora.