Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4rdrl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T09:51:48.394Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Urinary infection in children in general practice: a laboratory view

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

R. M. Maskell
Affiliation:
Public Health Laboratory, St Mary's General Hospital, Portsmouth
L. J. Pead
Affiliation:
Public Health Laboratory, St Mary's General Hospital, Portsmouth
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Children with urinary infection present at first to their general practitioners; paediatricians to whom they may be referred must assess the validity of the bacteriological diagnosis made at that time. With this in mind an analysis has been made of the laboratory findings in 2204 mid-stream urine specimens from 1586 children between the ages of two and 12 years examined at the request of their general practitioners during the course of one year.

The contamination rate was shown to be low; 8% of the specimens from boys and 19% of those from girls showed definite infection, and the ratio of infections in boys to girls was 1:4. There was a considerable difference in the infecting organisms in the sexes.

Analysis of the reasons for sending the specimens revealed that a high percentage of children who complained of urinary symptoms did not have infection. Of the children complaining of enuresis only there was a significantly greater incidence of infection in girls than in boys.

In the absence of any large studies of urinary infection in domiciliary practice, data from a laboratory which serves many practitioners can contribute to know ledge of the disease.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

References

REFERENCES

Asscher, A. W., McLacblan, M. S. F., Verrier Jones, R., Meller, S., Sussman, M., Harrison, S., Johnston, H. H., Sleight, G., & Fletcher, E. W. (1973). Screening for asymptomatic urinary tract infection in schoolgirls. Lancet ii, 1.Google Scholar
Baird-Parker, A. C. (1963). A classification of micrococci and staphylococci based on physiological and biochemical tests. Journal of General Microbiology 30, 409.Google Scholar
Bergström, T. (1972). Sex differences in childhood urinary tract infection. Archives of Disease in Childhood 47, 227.Google Scholar
Gallagber, D. J. A., Montgomerie, J. Z., & North, J. D. K. (1965). Acute infections of the urinary tract and the urethral syndrome in general practice. British Medical Journal i, 622.Google Scholar
Mabeck, C. E. (1969). Significance of coagulase-negative staphylococcal bacteriuria. Lancet ii, 1150.Google Scholar
Mackey, J. P., & Sandys, G. H. (1965). Laboratory diagnosis of infections of the urinary tract in general practice by means of a dip-inoculation transport medium. British Medical Journal ii, 1286.Google Scholar
Mann, P. G. (1972). Proteus urinary infection in childhood. Journal of Clinical Pathology 25, 551.Google Scholar
Maskell, R. (1974). Importance of coagulase-negative staphylococci as pathogens in the urinary tract. Lancet i, 1155.Google Scholar
Maskell, H., Pead, L., & Hallett, R. J. (1975). Urinary pathogens in the male. British Journal of Urology 47, 691.Google Scholar
Meers, P. D. (1974). The bacteriological examination of urine; a computer-aided study. Journal of Hygiene 72, 229.Google Scholar
Mond, N. C., Percival, A., Willtams, J. D., & Brumfitt, W. (1965). Diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections in general practice. Lancet i, 514.Google Scholar
Newcastle Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Research Group (1975). Asymptomatic bacteriuria in schoolchildren in Newcastle upon Tyne. Archives of Disease in Childhood 50, 90.Google Scholar
Savage, D. C. L., & Wilson, M. I. (1973). Covert bacteriuria of childhood. In Urinary Tract Infection (ed. Brumfitt, W. and Asscher, A. W.). p. 39. London.Google Scholar
Sellin, M., Cooke, D. I., Gillespie, W. A., Sylvester, D. G. H., & Anderson, J. D. (1975). Micrococcal urinary tract infections in young women. Lancet ii, 570.Google Scholar
Steensberg, J., Bartels, E. D., Bay-Nielsen, H., Fanøe, B., & Hede, T. (1969). Epidemiology of urinary tract diseases in general practice. British Medical Journal iv, 390.Google Scholar