Home-testing for recurrent bacteriuria, using nitrite strips

D. W. Scheifele and A. L. Smith

Follow-up of children with recurrent urinary infections would be simplified by an accurate home-testing program for detection of infection. We provided nitrite test strips to the parents of 30 girls with recurrent urinary infection to determine if twice weekly home testing of first-voided urine could reliably detect infection. Infections were documented by dip slides or colony counts indicating more than 10(5) bacteria per milliliter of urine. Twenty-four families (80%) complied over a mean study period of 11 months, detecting 28 of 30 episodes of bacteriuria (93%). No false-positive tests occurred. Urinary nitrate, the substrate for nitrite production by bacteria, was universally present (greater than 100 microgram/ml) in 80 children. The nitrite test is useful for home follow-up observation of children at high risk of bacteriuria if applied repeatedly by motivated parents.