According to the National Institute of Health, prostatitis may account for up to 25 percent of all office visits for complaints involving the genital and urinary systems from young and middle-aged men – and chronic (long-term) prostatitis is the number-one reason men under age 50 visit a urologist.

How the prostate becomes infected is not fully clear; the bacteria that cause prostatitis may get into the prostate from the urethra by backflow of infected urine or stool from the rectum.

Common symptoms include

• the frequent urge to urinate,
• difficulty urinating,
• chills,
• fever,
• and pain or burning during urination