Urinary tract infection in icteric infants younger than one week

Jaundice is the most common clinical problem in the neonates. Increased bilirubin can be considered as the first sign of UTI before the other signs. Due to the association of UTI with jaundice during the first days of life, this study was performed to investigate the urinary tract infection in icteric infants younger than one week referred to Shahid-Beheshti hospital in Kashan, Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 384 icteric term neonates hospitalized in neonatal ward of Kashan Shahid-Beheshti hospital during 2012-2013. All of the infants were younger than 7 days with a serum bilirubin level higher than 15mg/ml. Urine culture was done using a bag and in the case of a positive result, the test was repeated by suprapubic method. Twenty-five out of the 384 infant cases, 25 had positive urine cultures. On sampling by suprapubic method, 16 infants (4.2%) had urinary tract infection and 31.3% of them were 2 - 3 days of age and no other cause except UTI was found for their icterus. There was no significant difference in the sex and age between the groups with and without UTI. It seems that icterus induced by urinary tract infection occurs not only in neonates older than 3 days, but also in infants younger than 3 days. Considering the results of this study, it is recommended that urine culture be done routinely for all of the icteric infants regardless of their ages.