Pediatric Urinary Tract Infection
Practice Essentials
Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common pediatric infections. It distresses the child, concerns the parents, and may cause permanent kidney damage. Occurrences of a first-time symptomatic UTI are highest in boys and girls during the first year of life and markedly decrease after that.
Febrile infants younger than 2 months constitute an important subset of children who may present with fever without a localizing source. The workup of fever in these infants should always include evaluation for UTI. The chart below details a treatment approach for febrile infants younger than 3 months who have a temperature higher than 38°C.