Help my kid has a UTI! Does cranberry juice have any benefit for UTIs? Find out with us in today’s episode about urinary tract infections (UTIs)! 

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This episode was written by Dr. Tammy Yau and Dr. Lidia Park, with content support from Dr. Natasha Nakra. Drs. Tammy and Lidia take full responsibility for any errors or misinformation. 

Key points: 

-A fever may be your only symptom in a young child with a UTI

-If you think it’s a UTI, get a clean specimen for culture. A positive culture has more than 50k CFUs/ml on a catheter sample and more than 100k CFUs/ml on a clean catch/void sample.

-Most common bacteria causing UTIs are E. coli, Klebsiella, Proteus, Enterococcus, and Enterobacter

-Simple cystitis may only need 3-10 days of treatment depending on age, whereas pyelonephritis needs 10-14 days.

Sources

• 2021 AAP UTI Management: https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/147/2/e2020012138/36243/Contemporary-Management-of-Urinary-Tract-Infection 
• 2016 AAP Reaffirmation of Clinical Guideline: https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/6/e20163026/52686/Reaffirmation-of-AAP-Clinical-Practice-Guideline 
• UTI risk calculator: https://uticalc.pitt.edu/ 
• CDC Urine Culture Stewardship: https://www.cdc.gov/hai/prevent/cauti/index.html 
• 2023 UTI treatment duration: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2806198 
• 2012 Cranberry Juice for UTIs: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7027998/ 
• 2020 Comparative Effectiveness of Antibiotic Treatment Duration in Children With Pyelonephritis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32364593/