Urinary Tract Infection in Children: An Introduction
In the United States,
urinary tract infections (
UTIs) affect about 3 percent of children and account for more than 1 million visits to pediatricians' offices each year. Throughout childhood, girls have an 8 percent risk of developing a urinary tract infection, while boys have a 2 percent risk of developing a UTI.
Symptoms of a urinary tract infection in children are not always obvious to parents, and younger children are usually unable to describe how they feel. Recognizing and treating urinary tract infections is important because untreated UTIs can lead to serious kidney problems that could threaten the life of your child.
Urinary Tract Infection in Children: Understanding the Urinary System
The role of the kidneys is to filter and remove waste and water from the blood to produce urine. The urine travels from the kidneys down two narrow tubes called the ureters. The urine is then stored in a balloon-like organ called the bladder.
In a child, the bladder can hold about 1 to 1½ ounces of urine for each year of the child's age. When the bladder empties, a muscle called the sphincter relaxes and urine flows out of the body through the urethra, a tube at the bottom of the bladder. The opening of the urethra is at the end of the penis in boys and in front of the vagina in girls.
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