Pus cell and bacterial counts in the diagnosis of urinary tract infections in childhood

Abstract

The range of values of pus cell and bacterial counts of two contrasting groups of patients, one with no evidence of renal disease or urinary infection and one with acute symptomatic urinary infections, is compared. The techniques used to collect the urine have been assessed and the difficulty of obtaining satisfactory 'clean' specimens from infants is stressed. It is suggested that in the diagnosis of urinary tract infections pus cell and bacterial counts of the urine are complementary to one another and that both tests done together produce more reliable results than either alone.