• Mansoor Ahmed, Wan Norafifah Wan Long, Sidra Javed, and Timothy Reynolds.
• Department of Paediatrics, Queen's Hospital, Belvedere Road, Burton upon Trent, UK. mansoor.ahmed2@nhs.net.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2022 Feb 1; 191 (1): 279-282.

BackgroundUrinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the common infections in childhood. Prompt diagnosis and treatment reduces the risk of complications. The choice of antibiotic to treat UTI varies from region to region. Rational use and appropriately chosen antibiotic reduces the emergence of resistant uropathogens.ObjectiveWe investigated the resistance pattern of uropathogens for commonly used antibiotics to treat UTI locally.MethodsData was collected between 2009 and 2019 on all infants and children under 16 years of age with culture proven UTI. Results were compared with previously published figures between 2002 and 2008.ResultsA total of 1002 samples were analysed (91/year). Male to female ratio was 1:4.6. About 94% of the samples grew E. coli. As before, high resistance rates were recorded to Amoxicillin and Trimethoprim (Z = -0.325: P = 0.7452; not significant). Overall, average resistance has decreased for Nitrofurantoin from 10% between 2002 and 2008 to 5.84% between 2009 and 2019 (Z = 3.002: P = 0.0027). On the other hand, Cefalexin resistance has increased from 7.4 to 14.56% between the two study periods (Z = -4.2: P = < 0.0002).ConclusionDespite rising resistance rates, we recommend that Cefalexin should cautiously remain the antibiotic of choice for empirically treating uncomplicated urinary tract infections in secondary care pending urine culture. Nitrofurantoin should be reserved for treating non-coliform/atypical UTIs or multi-drug resistant UTIs. There is an ongoing need for clinicians in all geographic regions to continue to monitor antibiotic resistance rates every few years.© 2021. Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.

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