This article is a follow up to my article entitled urinary tract infection. My 20 months old son has recovered from urinary tract infection after a week on antibiotic. The fever subsided and he is now back to his normal self. Following the advise of his doctor, we sent his urine for culture 3 days after he completed his course of antibiotic to ensure that all the bacteria was destroyed. We do not want any remnants to create another round of infection.

4 days later, we got the results. It actually gave us a shock. The culture showed a new strain of bacteria call Klebsiella infecting his urine. This strain of bacteria is not common and ussually acquired from an admission to the hospital. And this is one nasty bacteria which can also cause pneumonia. On the night of getting the results, my son came down with slight fever and runny nose. The first thought that came to my mind is that the new strain of bacteria is acting up. Fearing the worse, we sent another urine sample to the same lab to confirm the earlier results and another one to a different lab just to double confirm.

We got the results of the second sample from the first lab which tested positive for Klebsiella earlier. This time the results is negative. There is no bacteria growth in the urine. That means to say that the first results is not accurate. The sample may have been contaminated in the lab. This shouldn’t have happened and caused us unnecessary worries. Meanwhile we are waiting for the report from the other lab. If it is negative, then it proves that the first Klebsiella results is wrong and not accurate.

My 20 months old toddler was down with high fever last week for 5 days. Thought that it was viral fever as doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with him. On looking back to the first day when he had fever, we realised that his urine had an odd smell. So we decided to send his urine for a urine FEME test. The result showed that there are white blood cells in his urine. This is a sign of urine infection but can only be confirmed by a urine culture. He recovered and has no more fever after 5 days. But today, four days after the fever subsided, it came back again. It was good that yesterday, we decided to send his urine for another urine FEME test and culture. Again the test confirmed that there are white blood cells in his urine and the culture shows positive for bacteria. Thus it is confirmed that he has urinary tract infection (UTI). The doctor put him on antibiotic to clear the infection.

The doctor told us that for a boy especially under two years old, there is a possibility that there are some problems with the child’s urinary tract. Problems that cause UTI may include blockages and a condition called vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). VUR is where urine from the bladder backs up into the kidneys. VUR is found in 30 to 40 percent of babies and young children who have UTIs.

The doctor recommended some tests to be done to rule out blockages and VUR.

1. Ultrasound which uses sound waves to show a picture of the kidneys and bladder.

2. A voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) which will show whether urine is backing up from the child’s bladder into the kidneys.During VCUG, X-rays are taken before and after a liquid dye is put into the bladder using a tube through the urethra.

The thought of VCUG and how they insert the tube worries me a lot. I can’t bear to see my little child goes through all these. The pain and the discomfort he has to go through. I will just pray that his infection is caused by bacteria from outside and not due to internal problem. Then he does not have to go through all these.