Urinary Tract Infection

Although uri­nary tract infec­tions are gen­er­al­ly not med­ical emer­gen­cies, their fre­quen­cy and impor­tance war­rants some dis­cus­sion. Symp­toms can include fre­quent uri­na­tion, urgency (feel­ing that one needs to relieve him­self, but can­not), itch­ing or burn­ing with uri­na­tion, low­er abdom­i­nal pain or back­ache in the flank area. How­ev­er, some chil­dren may exhib­it no signs of a uri­nary tract infec­tion while hav­ing one. Because of this, it is impor­tant to check a urine spec­i­men on any child where the diag­no­sis of his or her prob­lem is not clear.

Uri­nary tract infec­tions are more com­mon in females than males. Bub­ble bath should not be used in a child’s bath because it may cause irri­ta­tion and a sub­se­quent infec­tion. Chil­dren should be encour­aged to uri­nate when nec­es­sary, and not to hold their urine for pro­longed peri­ods. Med­ica­tion and close fol­low-ups are nec­es­sary with a con­firmed diag­no­sis of a uri­nary tract infec­tion. It is a good pol­i­cy to observe the urine of all chil­dren peri­od­i­cal­ly. The urine should be crys­tal-clear to lemon-yel­low in col­or. Boys should have a good strong and straight uri­nary stream. Drib­bling, incon­ti­nence, a poor urine stream or cloudy or bloody urine should be called to your physician’s atten­tion at once.