Study doubts antibiotics for kids with UTI

PHILADELPHIA, July 10 (UPI) -- Prophylactic antibiotics don't reduce urinary tract infections in children but increase their risk for resistant infections, say U.S. researchers.

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in Philadelphia conducted a study to identify risk factors for recurrent UTIs.

Current guidelines say that, after a first UTI, children should be evaluated for vesicoureteral reflux -- a backflow of urine from the bladder to the ureter that exists in 30 percent to 40 percent of cases -- and if found, daily prophylactic antibiotics should be given to prevent recurrent infections.

The team studied 74,974 children to identify those diagnosed with a first UTI from birth through age 6 between July 2001 and May 2006.

They found 611 children with a first UTI and 83 with a recurrent UTI. Risk factors included Caucasian race (twice the risk), ages 3 to 5 (over twice the risk), and grade 4 to 5 VUR (4.4 times the risk). Prophylactic antibiotics significantly increased the likelihood of resistant infections (7.5 times the risk).

The authors said that, given these findings, monitoring children with VUR after a first UTI might be the best course of action.

For more information, see the July 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.