Determination of Incidence of Urinary Tract Infection in Infants with Prolonged Unconjugated Hyperbilirubinemia

Abstract

Introduction & Objective: Jaundice is the most clinical finding in the neonatal period. Prolonged indirect hyperbilirubinemia, beyond 10 days, occur in 20% to 30% of all breast fed infants and, in some of them, may persist for up to 3 months. American academy of pediatrics does not recommend evaluation for infection in such infants. Our goal was to determine the incidence of urinary tract infection in asymptomatic infants older than 10 days and younger than 60 days with prolonged unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia. Materials & Methods: We prospectively evaluated 163 infants with prolonged jaundice for UTI. First, the urine samples were collected by urine bags. All infants with bacterial count³10000 were re-examined by suprapubic aspiration of urine. Results: Only one of 163 patients (0.6%) had UTI. Conclusion: According to the prevalence of UTI in asymptomatic newborn (0.1% to 1%), we suggest that testing for UTI is not indicated as a part of diagnostic evaluation of asymptomatic infants with prolonged indirect hyperbilirubinemia.

Keywords

• breast feeding
• hyperbilirubinemia
• jaundice
• urinary tract infections