Abstract

Urinary tract infection is a common pediatric emergency room diagnosis. Renal scarring, hypertension, and end-stage renal failure can be lethal, making early diagnosis and treatment crucial. Paediatric urinary tract infections are notoriously difficult to detect due to their nonspecific symptoms. Even a single urinary tract infection that is confirmed clinically should be treated vigorously specifically in infants because of the risk of renal parenchymal damage. Diagnostic tests are essential for early diagnosis and prompt diagnosis. Material and Methods: The research was carried out in the Department of Pediatrics, GGH Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. The study sample consisted of 250 children who presented with symptoms suggestive of urinary tract infection (UTI) and sought medical care either through outpatient department (OPD) visits or hospital admissions at our institution. A hospital-based prospective study was undertaken from January 2022 to April 2023 the study subjects to evaluate the utility of urine diptick as a rapid screening test for UTI. Results: Culture-positive UTIs occurred in 89 out of 250 patients (61.9 percent). Sixty-one percent of the sample had a negative urine culture. In the study it was observe that among the urinary tract infections were more common among girls compared to boys. Furthermore, boys were more likely to experience vesicoureteral reflux and renal scarring from UTIs than girls. One possible explanation is because newborns were included. Conclusion: Urine microscopic analysis has a low degree of sensitivity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value. Because of this, it cannot be relied upon for use in UTI screening. The dipstick test is capable of detecting nitrites and leucocyte esterase with fair amount of accuracy as compared with semiquantitiative tests. A useful screening test for UTI, leukocyte esterase has high sensitivity but only mediocre specificity. Nitrite can be utilized accurately in the diagnosis of UTIs because of its high sensitivity and specificity

Description