What are the symptoms of acute nephritis?

Written by Zhou Qi
Nephrology
Updated on September 27, 2024
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All patients with acute nephritis will have abnormalities in routine urinalysis, presenting with hematuria or proteinuria, or both concurrently. However, the severity of the condition varies. Some patients may have a large number of red blood cells in their urine, resulting in gross hematuria, tea-colored urine, light red urine, or urine resembling washed meat. Patients might also experience an increase in urine foam due to a large amount of urinary protein. Additionally, patients may develop acute renal failure, during which they might experience a decrease in urine output. However, all mentioned conditions can gradually improve over the course of three to four weeks, with increases in urine output, normalization of routine urinalysis, and resolution of edema.

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Written by Li Liu Sheng
Nephrology
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What are the symptoms of acute nephritis?

Acute nephritis is commonly seen in children, and in cases of acute nephritis in children, it is often preceded by an upper respiratory tract infection or skin infection one to three weeks prior to the onset. Once acute nephritis occurs, the most prominent clinical symptom in patients is gross hematuria, though some individuals only show microscopic hematuria, accompanied by an increase in urinary proteins. Additionally, patients with acute nephritis may experience swelling of the eyelids and lower limbs, especially noticeable swelling of the eyelids and facial area upon waking in the morning. Some patients may also experience elevated blood pressure, leading to symptoms such as dizziness and headache. A few may suffer from nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, reduced urine output, or even symptoms of acute renal failure.

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Written by Zhou Qi
Nephrology
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Is acute nephritis contagious?

Acute nephritis is not contagious. Acute nephritis generally occurs after a patient has a bacterial inflammation of the respiratory tract, such as infections by streptococcus, staphylococcus, and other bacteria affecting the respiratory tract, urinary tract, digestive tract, or skin. This leads to a secondary inflammatory response. These inflammatory immune complexes travel through the bloodstream to the kidneys, causing an inflammatory reaction within the organ. It could also be due to the deposition of immune complexes within the glomeruli, leading to glomerular damage. This disease itself is not contagious. Although these bacteria exist as triggers, they typically do not have the capability to infect other patients. Moreover, even if they were to infect others, it would not necessarily lead to nephritis.

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Written by Hu Lin
Nephrology
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What causes acute nephritis?

The full name of acute nephritis is post-infectious glomerulonephritis, so as the name suggests, acute nephritis is related to infections. The most common cause is acute streptococcal infection. There are also infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Gram-negative bacteria. The main pathogenic mechanism is due to a series of immune responses caused by streptococcal infections, leading to an immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis. The most common sites of infection are the respiratory tract and skin, with a latent period of one to three weeks.

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Written by Li Liu Sheng
Nephrology
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What are the symptoms of acute nephritis?

Acute nephritis is commonly seen in children. Most cases of acute nephritis are preceded by a history of streptococcal infection one to three weeks before the onset. Once acute nephritis occurs, the main symptoms include the development of edema, especially swelling of the eyelids and face after waking up in the morning. Additionally, patients with acute nephritis will also experience hematuria, which can be visible or microscopic, with increased foam in the urine and a change in color, and even a decrease in urine output. Of course, patients with severe acute nephritis will also experience a significant increase in blood pressure, leading to nausea, vomiting, headaches, palpitations, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and an inability to lie flat, resulting in heart failure. Therefore, patients with acute nephritis need to undergo reasonable and standardized treatment to avoid complications.

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Written by Zhou Qi
Nephrology
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Is acute nephritis easy to treat?

In most cases, acute nephritis is not difficult to treat because the disease itself is self-limiting, meaning that acute nephritis can heal naturally within about 3 to 4 weeks. However, acute nephritis can cause some complications, and in severe cases, it may lead to disability or death. Therefore, when patients with acute nephritis develop serious complications, treatment may be relatively difficult or complications such as pulmonary infections, heart failure, and acute renal failure may occur. But with appropriate treatment, most cases are hopeful to be controlled.