A novel screening method for pediatric urinary tract infection using ordinary diapers

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Clinical Diagnostics
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in children, but symptoms are often nonspecific.
• Diagnosing UTIs in non-toilet-trained infants is challenging due to difficulties in urine collection.
• Pyuria, the presence of white blood cells in urine, is a key indicator of UTI.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel
• diaper UTI test
• for rapid pyuria detection in infants.

Main Methods:

• A leukocyte esterase-based reagent was developed for absorption into disposable diapers.
• The reagent produces a violet color in the presence of pyuria.
• A clinical study enrolled 65 children under 3 years with suspected UTI, comparing the diaper test to urine culture and urinalysis.

Main Results:

• The diaper UTI test demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy.
• Sensitivity was 90.5% (95% CI 69.6-98.8) and specificity was 93.2% (95% CI 81.3-98.6).
• 21 out of 65 children were diagnosed with UTI.

Conclusions:

• The diaper UTI test is a convenient and effective method for screening pediatric UTI.
• Its high sensitivity and specificity make it a valuable tool for early detection in infants.
• This test can aid in managing UTIs in non-toilet-trained children.