Prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among pre-school children in Nnewi, South-East Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Early diagnosis and management of urinary tract infection (UTI) in young children reduces the risk of renal scarring and chronic renal insufficiency. We determined the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) among pre-school children in Nnewi, South-East Nigeria. Methodology: This was a crosssectional survey involving apparently healthy nursery school children aged 3-5 years. A pre-tested, care-giver administered questionnaire was used to obtain information about the participants including age, sex, history of fever and antibiotic administration in the two weeks preceding the study. Following a clinical examination, a sample of mid-stream urine was collected from each participant for dipstick urinalysis, and urine microscopy and culture. ASB was defined as the presence of ≥105CFU/ml of urine in a participant who had no symptoms of UTI. Results: Out of 792 children, 417 (52.3%) were females and 375 (47.4%) were males. The mean age of the children was 4.0 ± 0.7 years. ASB was found in 31 children (4%). The prevalence of ASBin females (7.2 %) was significantly higher than in males (0.5%), p<0.001. The highest prevalence of ASB of 5.6% occurred in the 4- year-olds and the lowest of 2.0 % occurred in 5 year olds, p=0.09. The commonest bacterial isolatesamong the ASB cases were Staphlococcus aureus, 13 (40.6%); Streptococcus faecalis, 9 (28.1%) and Escherichia coli, 5 (15.6%). Conclusion: Asymptomatic bacteriuria is commoner in female preschool children and S. aureus is the commonest bacterial isolate. Routine evaluation of female preschool children for bacteriuria is recommended.

Keywords

• asymptomatic bacteriuria
• pre-school children
• prevalence