new YORK (Reuters Health) – A new study suggests that

If the urine of a child has a very bad odor, parents should

consult a doctor to rule out a urinary tract infection (UTI).

The authors recall that only a few studies were

relieved that relationship, with conflicting results. “Did not believe

that was very reliable”, said the lead author of the new

study, Dr. Marie Gauthier, of CHU Sainte-Justine,

Montreal.

Is, according to the results of its study, it would not be.

The team analysed information of 331 children aged between 1 and 36

months of age, with signs of a possible UI served in the room

emergencies between August 2009 and April 2011.

All have had made an analysis of urine and the

adult dependants provided health information

General children and some issues during the two days

prior to the consultation, such as the use of antibiotics or the smell of

urine.

15 Per cent of children (51) were diagnosed one

UI. Parents of 57 percent of these patients had

pointed out the odor of the urine the two previous days. But

32 percent of parents of children without a UI also

had mentioned.

“There is an association with urinary tract infection, but it is not

“

as solid. Urinate with bad odor is not one sufficient test. “Of

any way”, said Gauthier.

In the journal Pediatrics, the team believes that you for the

doctors and nurses is useful to ask about the smell of the

urine at the suspicion of an IU.

The researchers also found that girls were more

prone than males to develop UI, as well as the

children with a condition where urine passes from the bladder to the

upper urinary tract.

But even after considering such cases, the team noted that

urine odor remained associated with the possibility of

diagnose an IU.

The authors highlighted some limitations of the study

as the assessment that parents made the smell as

“unpleasant” or “stronger”, which might have different

meanings to different people. In addition, the amount of

children with one IU was small and there was not a group of control.

El Dr. Nader Shaikh, Professor in the Department of

Pediatrics of the medicine Faculty of the University of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, recommended them to parents control

also the temperature.

“The most important sign is the fever, which can be the

“”

only symptom of a UTI”, said Shaikh, who did not participate in the

study.

And although the team found no solid proof for

use the smell of the urine to diagnose an IU, Gauthier

concluded: “If the urine stinks, the risk of having a UI is a

“”

little higher”.

Source: Pediatrics, online April 2, 2012