Diagnosing Urinary Tract Infections in Children: Laboratory Challenges and Best Practices
This review addresses the unique laboratory challenges of diagnosing urinary tract infections in paediatric patients, including specimen collection methods, urinalysis interpretation, appropriate culture thresholds, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing considerations. The guidance is particularly relevant for clinical laboratories seeking to reduce both missed diagnoses and overtreatment in this common childhood infection.
The original study
Diagnosis of Urinary Tract Infections in Children.
- Authors
- Doern CD, Richardson SE
- Journal
- Journal of clinical microbiology
- Type
- Journal Article, Review
- PMID
- 27053673
Original abstract
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common occurrence in children. The management and laboratory diagnosis of these infections pose unique challenges that are not encountered in adults. Important factors, such as specimen collection, urinalysis interpretation, culture thresholds, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, require special consideration in children and will be discussed in detail in the following review.