[Bacteriological urine analysis as part of check-ups on children. A retrospective study from general practice].

This paper presents a retrospective study of asymptomatic bacteriuria from general practice. The general practitioner had screened children's urine specimens for asymptomatic bacteriuria at the eight regular health examinations during preschool age. The urine was collected in special adhesive bags or as a midstream clean catch and investigated by stix and culture at the practitioner's. When significant bacteriuria was noted, a new urine sample was collected for analysis. If asymptomatic bacteriuria was again noted, the culture plates were sent to a microbiological hospital department for determination of bacterial type and antibiotic resistance. The children were subsequently treated with a relevant antibiotic. The material collected during 12 years consisted of 658 urine samples obtained from 1295 examinations of 208 children. Thirty-five samples (5.3%) were positive, and 30 of the children presented at least one positive sample (14.2%). Most of the positive samples were obtained during the first two years. However, the material is too small to obtain statistically positive results and must due to its retrospective nature be interpreted with care. Nevertheless, the high rate of infection in our study motivates the initiation of a regular prospective study.