Question
I went to the hospital yesterday for a check-up and the child was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. Is it serious for a child? How should it be treated?
Answer
Young children often need to use diapers and cannot control their urination and defecation, leading to frequent contamination of the urethral opening with stool. Especially for girls, their urethral opening is shorter, and boys have foreskins, which, combined with weaker urinary tract immune function and bladder defense mechanisms, make it easier for urinary tract infections to occur. For further diagnosis, it is necessary to bring the child to the hospital for routine urine tests and midstream urine cultures. If the child still has recurrent attacks after receiving regular treatment for urinary tract infection, mothers should be vigilant about the possibility of congenital kidney, ureter, or bladder malformations in their children.