Home-Testing for Recurrent Bacteriuria, Using Nitrite Strips

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Abstract
• Follow-up of children with recurrent urinary infections would be simplified by an accurate home-testing program for detection of infection. We provided nitrite test strips to the parents of 30 girls with recurrent urinary infection to determine if twice weekly home testing of first-voided urine could reliably detect infection. Infections were documented by dip slides or colony counts indicating more than 105 bacteria per milliliter of urine. Twenty-four families (80%) complied over a mean study period of 11 months, detecting 28 of 30 episodes of bacteriuria (93%). No false-positive tests occurred. Urinary nitrate, the substrate for nitrite production by bacteria, was universally present (> 100 μg/ml) in 80 children. The nitrite test is useful for home follow-up observation of children at high risk of bacteriuria if applied repeatedly by motivated parents. (Am J Dis Child 132:46-48, 1978)