Title
Prevalence of urinary tract infection in febrile infants
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Pediatrics
Publication Date
1993-07-01
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Bacteria; Bacteriuria; Chi-Square Distribution; Female; Fever; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Infant; Linear Models; Male; Prevalence; Pyuria; Sensitivity and Specificity; Urinary Tract Infections
Disciplines
Pediatrics
Abstract
Urinary tract infection (UTI), a relatively common cause of fever in infancy, usually consists of pyelonephritis and may cause permanent renal damage. This study assessed (1) the prevalence of UTI in febrile infants (temperature > or = 38.3 degrees C) with differing demographic and clinical characteristics and (2) the usefulness of urinalysis in diagnosing UTI. We diagnosed UTI in 50 (5.3%) of 945 febrile infants if we found > or = 10,000 colony-forming units of a single pathogen per milliliter in a urine specimen obtained by catheterization. Prevalences were similar in (1) infants aged < or = 2 months undergoing examination for sepsis (4.6%), (2) infants aged > 2 months in whom UTI was suspected, usually because no source of fever was apparent (5.9%), and (3) infants with no suspected UTI, most of whom had other illnesses (5.1%). Female and white infants had significantly more UTIs, respectively, than male and black infants. In all, 17% of white female infants with temperature > or = 39 degrees C had UTI, significantly more (p < 0.05) than any other grouping of infants by sex, race, and temperature. Febrile infants with no apparent source of fever were twice as likely to have UTI (7.5%) as those with a possible source of fever such as otitis media (3.5%) (p = 0.02). Only 1 (1.6%) of 62 subjects with an unequivocal source of fever, such as meningitis, had UTI. As indicators of UTI, pyuria and bacteriuria had sensitivities of 54% and 86% and specificities of 96% and 63%, respectively. In infants with fever, clinicians should consider UTI a potential source and consider a urine culture as part of the diagnostic evaluation.
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/S0022-3476(05)81531-8
Source
J Pediatr. 1993 Jul;123(1):17-23. DOI 10.1016/S0022-3476(05)81531-8.
Journal/Book/Conference Title
The Journal of pediatrics
Related Resources
PubMed ID
8320616
Repository Citation
Hoberman A, Chao H, Keller DM, Hickey R, Davis HW, Ellis D. (1993). Prevalence of urinary tract infection in febrile infants. General Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(05)81531-8. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/peds_general/15