Primary urinary tract infection in infants: prophylaxis for uncomplicated pyelonephritis.

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common causes of unexplained fever in infants with a reported prevalence range of 5-11%. The clinical and laboratory findings were reviewed, and diagnosis and treatment for 95 infants with primary UTI were evaluated in this study.

METHODS: All patients underwent renal ultrasonography, voiding cystourethrogram and 99mTc dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scan during hospitalization before treatment, with treatment consisting of 2- or 4-week appropriated antibiotic therapy for the patients associated upper UTI, followed by a second DMSA scan 6 months after therapy.

RESULTS: In the present study the main symptom of UTI in infants was fever. High white blood cell count was not necessarily present, and urinalysis was also an imperfect diagnostic tool for discriminating UTI. In addition, colony count from urine culture and kidney ultrasonography was not efficacious in terms of predicting the occurrence of pyelonephritis. Intravenous antibiotic for 1 week followed by 3 weeks of the same oral antibiotic provided good prophylaxis for uncomplicated pyelonephritis.

CONCLUSION: Four weeks of antibiotic treatment resulted in good recovery from pyelonephritis in the present sample of infant primary UTI cases. voiding cystourethrogram, DMSA and ultrasonography scanning should be performed in primary infant UTI.