Screening of asymptomatic bacteriuria in a disadvantaged school population

In the Pose-Robbins School Health Project, 314 seventh grade students were screened for asymptomatic bacteriuria. A multiple dipstrip detection method was used for nitrite, glucose, and protein. Where one or more of the dipstrip tests was positive, urine cultures were performed on clean voided specimens. A child whose urine culture showed a colony count of greater than 100,000 colonies/ml was defined as having asymptomatic bacteriuria. Of the female students, 5.4 percent were found to have asymptomatic bacteriuria. None of the male students had asymptomatic bacteriuria. The percentage of schoolgirls in this age group who demonstrated infection was higher than previously reported. The school population screened in this study was from a poverty area disadvantaged according to most demographic parameters.