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Urinary tract infection - children - Prevention

Alternative Names

UTI - children; Cystitis - children; Bladder infection - children; Kidney infection - children; Pyelonephritis - children

Prevention:

  • Avoid giving your child bubble baths
  • Have your child wear loose-fitting underpants and clothing
  • Increase your child's intake of fluids
  • Keep your child's genital area clean to prevent bacteria from entering through the urethra
  • Teach your child to go the bathroom several times every day
  • Teach your child to wipe the genital area from front to back to reduce the chance of spreading bacteria from the anus to the urethra

Long-term use of preventive (prophylactic) antibiotics may be recommended for some children who get repeated UTIs.

  • Reviewed last on: 8/4/2011
  • Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

White B. Diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infection in children. Am Fam Physician. 2011;83:409-415.

Williams G, Craig JC. Long-term antibiotics for preventing recurrent urinary tract infection in chidlren. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011 Mar 16:(3):CD001534.

Craig JC, Simpson JM, Williams GJ, et al. Antibiotic prophylaxis and recurrent urinary tract infection in children. N Engl J Med. 2009 Oct 29;361(18):1748-59.

Skoog SJ, Peters CA, Arant BS Jr, et al. Pediatric Vesicoureteral Reflux Guidelines Panel Summary Report: Clinical Practice Guidelines for Screening Siblings of Children With Vesicoureteral Reflux and Neonates/Infants With Prenatal Hydronephrosis. J Urol. 2010 Sep;184(3):1145-51.

Shaikh N, Morone NE, Lopez J, Chianese J, Sangvai S, D'Amico F, Hoberman A, Wald ER. Does this child have a urinary tract infection? JAMA. 2007;298:2895-2904.

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