Diagnosing UTI in Young Febrile Infants

Investigators from multiple institutions assessed the clinical utility of urinalysis in predicting UTIs among febrile infants ≤60 days of age. Data for the current study had been collected as part of a larger project conducted by the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network. For the original study, infants ≤60 days of age presenting to an ED with a documented temperature >38°C in whom blood cultures were obtained were enrolled. Only patients who had had urine collected by means of urethral catheterization or suprapubic aspiration for urinalysis and culture were included in the current study. Urinalysis results were classified as positive if either leukocyte esterase (LE) or nitrites results were positive or pyuria was documented (>5 white blood cells per high-power field). The primary outcome was UTI …