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Urinary tract infection - children - Management
When should I treat UTI in a child over 3 years of age with an antibiotic?
- If urinary tract infection (UTI) — upper or lower — is suggested by symptoms or by urine tests, treat immediately with an antibiotic.
- Before starting antibiotics send a urine specimen for culture and sensitivities unless the child has typical cystitis, or the child has no specific symptoms of UTI, is at low risk for serious illness, and the urine dipstick test is negative for both nitrite and leukocyte esterase.
- Delay the decision about treatment until the urine microscopy and culture results are available when there are no specific symptoms for UTI and the immediate urine test is equivocal (i.e. dipstick negative for nitrites but positive for leukocyte esterase, or microscopy showed no bacteriuria but found pyuria).
- Do not treat (and do not send urine for culture) if the child has no symptoms specific for UTI, and if the urine dipstick test is negative for both nitrite and leukocyte esterase.
In depth
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