Actress Tanya Roberts, known for her roles during a View to Kill, Charlie’s Angels, which '70s Show has died at 65.
Her publicist confirmed that her explanation for death was a tract infection that eventually moved to other parts of the body.
Doctors explain the way to recognize a UTI, how it’s typically treated, and why it can turn deadly if gone unnoticed.
Following mixed reports, a publicist for Tanya Roberts confirmed Monday night that the actress died of a tract infection.
“With an important heart I can confirm the death of Tanya Roberts last night on January 4, 2021 around 9:30 p.m. PT at Cedars-Sinai center in l. a. , CA,” her publicist, Mike Pingel, said during a statement posted to Roberts’ website. “Roberts’s explanation for death was from a tract infection which spread to her kidney, gallbladder, liver then blood stream.”
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Roberts collapsed on Christmas Eve after walking her dogs and was hospitalized. She tested negative for COVID-19 and was placed on a ventilator thanks to her worsening condition.
The news is heartbreaking, and it’s understandable to possess questions on how a tract infection could turn deadly. Here’s what you would like to understand , consistent with doctors.
First, what's a tract infection?
A tract infection (UTI) is an infection of any area of your tract . Bladder infections are the foremost common sort of UTI, but any a part of the tract can become infected, including the urethra, ureters and kidneys, consistent with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
Urinary tract infections are usually caused by bacteria that’s normally found within the bowel, like E. coli, the NIDDK says. While urination typically flushes out this bacteria before it reaches the bladder, sometimes your body can’t fight the bacteria and it causes an infection.
According to the NIDDK, symptoms of a bladder infection typically include:
a burning feeling once you pee
frequent or intense urges to pee, even once you have little urine to pass
If a UTI progresses to a kidney infection, it's going to cause additional symptoms, including:
chills
fever
pain in your back, side, or groin
nausea
vomiting
cloudy, dark, bloody, or foul-smelling urine
frequent, painful urination
How does a UTI become deadly?
UTIs are typically treated with a brief course of antibiotics, but “a small proportion of those infections can become more serious, particularly in patients who produce other medical problems, placing them at higher risk,” says Joshua Halpern, M.D., a urologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and professor of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of drugs .
Some people might not experience normal symptoms of a UTI, though, causing them to delay care, says Jennifer Linehan, M.D., a urologist and professor of urologic oncology at the toilet Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s clinic in Santa Monica, Calif. “They don’t recognize that they’re beginning to have a bladder infection and, if it goes untreated, it can reach the kidneys,” she explains. “When it gets to the kidneys, they’ll start to possess a fever and not feel well.”
From there, the infection can get into a person’s bloodstream and cause a condition called bacteremia, or the presence of bacteria within the blood, she says. It also can cause sepsis, a life-threatening complication during which the body launches an extreme response to an infection.
“Once the infection is within the bloodstream, it can attend any organ,” Dr. Linehan explains. “The body is overwhelmed — sometimes a patient will start to urge kidney and liver failure and therefore the body shuts down.”
However, this is often very rare in an otherwise healthy person, especially for a tract infection to travel undetected because it progresses, says David Kaufman, M.D., director of Central Park Urology, a division of Maiden Lane Medical. “Conceivably, you'll have a tract infection for an extended time, not recognize it, and have it eventually spread to the kidneys,” he says. “But once it reaches the kidneys, you’ll vomit as a dog with fever and chills. People nearly always catch it at that time .”
While experts stress that this type of situation is rare, they note that it’s important to concentrate to the warning signs of a UTI. If you've got any of the symptoms above, seek medical attention ASAP.

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