Mass detection of bacteriuria by combination of two screening tests.

The Uriglox screening test was compared with the modified Griess Nitrite test and with standard urine cultures in the detection of significant bacteriuria on 400 ambulant and asymptomatic residents of the Athens Home for the Aged. The modified Nitrite test alone detected 62%, and the Uriglox test 79% of the 103 cases with positive urine cultures in the examined group. There was significant overlap in the positive cases picked up by each screening test separately, the Uriglox test identifying more infections. Since there were no false-positive cases with either one of the employed tests, the cases identified by one the other both screening tests amounted to 95% of the total number of bacteriuric samples. The combination of the moderately sensitive but highly specific test of Nitrite, with the very sensitive test of Uriglox, can effectively substitute for the expensive and time-consuming quantitative bacterial counts with pour-plate techniques in mass screening for bacteriuria.