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UTI is caused by bacteria, most often of intestinal origin, that travel up through the urethra and then enter the bladder where it spreads the infection. Either it stops there, and it’s the low infection; either it continues on its way, goes up through the ureter, finishes its journey in the kidney that it infects and it is the upper infection. In both cases, it is necessary to consult without delay.
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The least serious urinary tract infection: the lower infection
Symptoms are the same as in adults: frequent urge to urinate, inability to drop more than a few drops, and burning when urinating. This type of infection particularly affects girls who, like women, have a shorter urethra than men. Germs that come from the vulva therefore have less distance to travel to reach the bladder and infect it.
Treatment of lower urinary tract infection
If he suspects a low infection, the doctor will order a urinalysis to identify the causative germ. If you have a baby, his urine will be collected at the laboratory in a sterile bag. If your child is older, they will be asked to pee in a sterile vial. Then the urine will be analyzed on strips. If the diagnosis is confirmed, the little patient will be under oral antibiotic treatment for ten days.
The most complicated urinary tract infection: upper infection
Symptoms: fever over 39 ° C, nausea, vomiting, nervousness, urinary leakage sometimes. The upper infection may very well go unnoticed as the symptoms are so unspecific. And yet, it can have serious consequences. Note that it mostly affects male babies. It is most often due to an abnormality of the urinary system: a congenital obstruction of the urethra or, more frequently, vesicoureteric reflux. Clearly, the urine accumulated in the bladder turns back and returns to the ureters and kidneys instead of being evacuated normally through the urethra. This is how the germ that was in the bladder can travel up to the kidney and infect it, causing pyelonephritis (inflammation of the kidney).
Treatment of upper urinary tract infection
If the doctor suspects an upper infection, the child is hospitalized immediately with intravenous antibiotic treatment for 48 or 72 hours. As soon as the infection is controlled, an antibiotic treatment, oral this time, takes over for at least ten days. At the same time, the doctor prescribes a kidney ultrasound to rule out any abnormalities. As soon as the infection is completely cured, he will ask for a cystography: a contrast product will be injected (under local anesthesia) into your child’s bladder, in order to show on the x-ray a possible reflux of the product, and therefore to urine, to the kidneys.
How to prevent urinary tract infections
By teaching girls to wipe themselves from front to back when going to the bathroom to avoid bringing bacteria from the anus to the vagina. By explaining to children that they shouldn’t hold back when they feel like going to a wee and that they should empty their bladder completely each time. By making sure your child washes their genitals thoroughly when they are grooming, and by doing the same with your baby each time you change their diaper.