Spinal Tap - Pediatric Oncall

4th Pediatric Infectious Diseases Conference

ISSN 0973 - 0958

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Question
My nephew was first diagnosed with UTI, he is only ten weeks old. He was put on antibiotics and the urine was cultured. The culture didn't show a UTI but a elevated White count, the doctor then did a spinal tap and sent them home. What could cause this and shouldn't they have kept him overnight for observation especially if they considered meningitis?
Answer
If the spinal tap was normal, meningitis is unlikely. Sometimes UTI may just show some pus cells (white cells) in urine and culture may be negative. The treatment would be antibiotics either orally or intravenously depending upon how severe is the infection. An ultrasound would be required to check the kidneys and the bladder as the UTI in infants is usually due to structural defects. Please read the article on "Urinary Tract Infections" on www.pediatriconcall.com or from the link given below: http://www.pediatriconcall.com/forpatients/commonchild/Kidney_problems/ urinary_tractinfection.asp The decision whether your nephew should have been kept overnight or discharged would depend on a lot of things such as the symptoms of the child, the severity of the fever, the investigation findings and how lethargic is the child. Your doctor would be the best judge at that moment in time. Back to All Questions

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