Introducing urine microscopy for UTIs

Cheap and reliable testing

Laboratory testing to detect urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children is relatively expensive. It also takes two days to get a reliable result, during which time the infant's kidneys may scar. This makes it unsuitable for many clinical situations.

The alternative of using urine dip-tests (apart from being unreliable in small infants) is expensive, and the test-strips have a limited shelf life. This makes them unsuitable for regular use in the developing world.

Urine microscopy

Malcolm has promoted using urine microscopy as the most useful way to detect UTIs in infants in the UK, using inexpensive microscopes. It is highly reliable, and can be done by the medical and nursing staff in a side-room of the ward, where the microscope doubles up for detecting malaria. It also gives an instant result, so treatment can be started at once.

Malcolm has written encouraging urine microscopy in 'International Child Health Care', a practical manual for hospitals worldwide.