Urinary Tract Infection UTI
A urinary tract infection is an infection of the urinary tract or bladder. It is a common infection and found in girls twice as often as boys.
Causes
A child may have a UTI due to:
- a physicial abnormality
- a family history
- poor hygiene
- irritation from different soaps and/or bubble baths
In young males, being uncircumcised boosts the risk for a Urinary Tract Infection, since bacteria can hide under the foreskin, making hygiene harder to maintain. Children with a history of UTI's are at a higher risk as well of contracting another UTI. More below:
Symptoms
In younger children, such as infants, often times the only symptom of a UTI will be a fever. Symptoms in children may be hard to pinpoint, but certain things to watch out for are:
- irritability
- vomiting
- inability to feed (in babies)
- Fever
- a burning sensation when urinating
- loss of control of bladder
- decreased amount of urine when urinating
- back and abdominal pain
- fatigue
- a change in color, smell or blood in the urine
Treatment
Usually your child's doctor will treat his/her UTI with antibiotics, depending on what kind of bacteria he determines is causing the infection. A Urinalysis and/or urine culture will be done to identify the kind of bacteria responsible and after several days of treatment, the tests may be repeated to determine the success of the treatment.
If the physician suspects a bladder or urinary tract abnormality, he will probably order tests and refer out to a specialist. If you suspect such an abnormality, you may want to take your child to a urologist, a doctor that specializes in UTI's and other bladder infections.
Other practical home remedies that you may want to try on your child including drinking a lot of water, cranberry juice, and eating yogurt since the bacteria found in yogurt is known to battle the bacteria that causes UTI's. However, these remedies should in no way be considered a replacement for a visit to a physician.
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