Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Urinary Tract Infection Lab Test

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What Is A Urine Culture

URINARY TRACT INFECTION (UTI) BY THE LAB INFORMANTS

A urine culture test checks urine for germs that cause infections. Urine is your bodys liquid waste . Culture is the medical term for growing microorganisms like bacteria and yeast in a laboratory setting.

A lab adds growth-promoting substances to a urine sample. If bacteria or yeast are present, they start multiplying. This growth indicates an infection in your urinary system.

What Are Other Ways To Collect A Urine Sample

For infants and young children, and adults who are ill, hospitalized or elderly, a healthcare provider may use one of these methods:

  • Catheterization: Your healthcare provider inserts a catheter through your urethra to reach your bladder. Urine flows out of the catheter into a sterile collection bag.
  • Aspiration: Your healthcare provider inserts a thin needle through numbed abdominal skin into your bladder to draw urine into a collection bag.
  • Urine bag : For infants and young children, you might attach a urine collection bag with sticky adhesive directly to their penis or over their vulva. After your child urinates, you empty their urine into a lidded container. Keep the container refrigerated until you drop it off at your healthcare providers office or lab.

Interpretation Of Urinalysis And Urine Culture For Uti Treatment

Brittany N. Bates, PharmD, BCPSClinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy PracticeOhio Northern UniversityLima, OhioUS Pharm.

ABSTRACT: Urinary tract infection is one of the most commonly diagnosed infections in both outpatient and inpatient populations. In order to make an accurate diagnosis, it is essential for practitioners to understand the value and limitations of urinalysis and urine culture. Use of these tests in conjunction with an assessment of urinary symptoms will yield a diagnosis of either asymptomatic bacteriuria or symptomatic UTI. Pharmacists can play a key role in recommending that antibiotic therapy be withheld when it is not indicated, in addition to providing guidance on appropriate antibiotic selection when treatment is warranted.

Urinalysis is a valuable diagnostic tool for many common disease states. Urinalysis is the most frequently used test for the evaluation of potential urinary tract infection . In addition, it can provide useful information related to screening and diagnosis of other conditions, including malignancy, proteinuria, glycosuria, ketonuria, and renal calculi.1 Accurate interpretation of urinalysis results is a key concept for health care providers in order to diagnose and treat patients appropriately. This article will focus primarily on the interpretation of urinalysis and subsequent urine culture in the diagnosis and treatment of UTIs.

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Do I Need A Test To Be Diagnosed With A Uti

No, a test is not always needed to diagnose a UTI.

In non-pregnant, healthy women, a UTI can be diagnosed and treated based on having the typical UTI symptoms. Some women who have recurrent UTIs defined as three or more UTIs in 12 months, or two or more in 6 months can accurately tell when a UTI is starting and begin treatment on their own.

Even though a test may not be needed to diagnose a UTI, you should let your healthcare provider know if you develop any symptoms. This is especially true since there are other conditions that can cause similar symptoms to a UTI. Its best to work with your healthcare provider to come up with the most appropriate plan for you.

Diagnostic Value Of Different Urine Tests For Urinary Tract Infection: A Systematic Review And Meta

AZO Test Strips

Rong Xie1, Xinli Li1, Guangquan Li2, Rong Fu3

1 Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University , Chengdu Second Peoples Hospital , , China

Contributions: Conception and design: All authors Administrative support: All authors Provision of study materials or patients: All authors Collection and assembly of data: All authors Data analysis and interpretation: All authors Manuscript writing: All authors Final approval of manuscript: All authors.

Correspondence to:

Background: There are differences in specificity and sensitivity of different routine urine tests for urinary tract infection, so meta-analysis was used to compare the diagnostic value of various urine analysis and detection methods in urinary tract infection, including bacterial culture, urine sediment microscopy, automated urinalysis, and routine urine dry chemical methods.

Methods: The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, SpringerLink, CNKI, and Wanfang databases were searched from inception to December 2021. Two system assessors independently screened the literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. RevMan version 5.3 and Meta-DiSc were used to calculate the combined sensitivity , specificity , positive likelihood ratio , negative likelihood ratio , and diagnostic ratio of the diagnostic tests and draw summary receiver operating characteristic curves.

Keywords: Multiple urine tests urinary tract infection systematic review meta-analysis retrospective study

doi: 10.21037/tau-22-65

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How Is A Uti Usually Diagnosed

A UTI is usually diagnosed by seeing a healthcare provider, who will ask you about your symptoms and your health. They may also do a physical exam. In non-pregnant, healthy women, a lower tract UTI can be diagnosed and treated just based on having the typical symptoms.

In other situations like postmenopausal women or those with health problems your provider may also order a urine test to see if there are signs of infection. There are different types of urine tests, which can usually be done in the providers office or lab.

If you do a urine test, its important to get a clean-catch urine sample in order to keep other bacteria from contaminating the sample. For women, this means cleaning the genital area and catching urine midstream into a sterile cup .

The main types of urine tests are discussed below.

What Is Being Tested

Urine is the fluid produced by the kidneys that carries water and wastes through the urinary tract and then is eliminated from the body. The urine culture is a test that detects and identifies bacteria and yeast in the urine, which may be causing a urinary tract infection .

The kidneys, a pair of bean-shaped organs located at the bottom of the ribcage in the right and left sides of the back, filter wastes out of the blood and produce urine, the yellow fluid that carries wastes out of the body. Urine travels through tubes called ureters from the kidneys to the bladder, where it is stored temporarily, and then through the urethra as it is voided. Urine contains low levels of microbes, such as bacteria or, yeast which move from the skin into the urinary tract and grow and multiply, causing a urinary tract infection.

Most UTIs are considered uncomplicated and are easily treated. However, if they are not addressed, the infection may spread from the bladder and ureters into the kidneys. A kidney infection is more dangerous and can lead to permanent kidney damage. In some cases, an untreated urinary tract infection may spread to the bloodstream and cause sepsis, which can be life-threatening.

People with kidney disease or with other conditions that affect the kidneys, such as diabetes or kidney stones, and people with weakened immune systems may be more prone to frequent, repeated and/or complicated UTIs.

How is the sample collected for testing?

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Warning Disclaimer Use For Publication

WARNING: Please DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting a physician since doing so could be hazardous to your health.

DISCLAIMER: All material available on eHealthMe.com is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. All information is observation-only. Our phase IV clinical studies alone cannot establish cause-effect relationship. Different individuals may respond to medication in different ways. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. The use of the eHealthMe site and its content is at your own risk.

If you use this eHealthMe study on publication, please acknowledge it with a citation: study title, URL, accessed date.

Topic: Bladder Or Urinary Tract Infection Test Negative But Still Have Symptoms

Testing for Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

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What Tests Are Included In Urinalysis

Your healthcare provider can include several different tests in a urinalysis. Depending on your symptoms, existing health conditions, and/or situation, your provider will choose which urine tests to order under a urinalysis.

In general, a healthcare provider or laboratory technician can examine a urinalysis urine sample for the following broad aspects:

  • Color and appearance.
  • Microscopic findings.

Urine color and appearance

For most urinalysis tests, a healthcare provider examines how the urine sample looks to the naked eye. They check if its clear or cloudy and if its pale, dark yellow or another color.

Normal urine color is usually some shade of yellow and can range from colorless or pale yellow to deep amber, depending on how concentrated or diluted your urine is.

Many things can affect the color of your urine, including certain medications and supplements and certain foods you eat, such as beets. However, an unusual urine color can also be a sign of disease. For example, red-colored urine can happen when blood is present in your urine and can be an indicator of disease or damage to a part of your urinary system.

Cloudy urine doesnt always indicate unhealthy urine. For example, sperm and skin cells are harmless and could make your urine appear cloudy. Other substances that can make your urine cloudy, such as red blood cells, white blood cells and bacteria, may indicate several different medical conditions, including:

  • Diabetes.

Urine chemical findings

  • Cells.
  • Crystals.

Quantitative Determination Of Urinary Protein Composition

A heterogeneity test of 4 RCT studies included found that the heterogeneity of the selected studies was small and a fixed-effect model could be used for meta-analysis. The results of the meta-analysis showed that there was a significant statistical difference between the urine sediment microscopy group and the urine normalization group in quantitative determination of urinary protein composition .

Figure 6

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P1105 Urinary Tract Isolates Of Haemophilus Parainfluenzae Are Distinct By Repetitive Extragenic Palindromic Pcr And Cellular Fatty Acid Analysis

VA Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Texas, USAObjectives:HaemophilusMethods:HaemophilusResults:Haemophilus ducreyiH. parainfluenzaeH. influenzae were heterogeneous. However a group of urinary tract isolates of H parainfluenzae clustered by CFA analysis at a Euclidean distance of 6 and showed a single PCR pattern and only a few biochemical profiles. These isolates occurred as both pathogens and normal urethral flora. H parainfluenzae from other sources gave about ten PCR patterns and CFA clusters. H. parainfluenzae and H. influenzaeHaemophilus parainfluenzae

Study Population And Method

Lab Results Indicating UTI

All infants aged from 0 to 3 months that sought the emergency unit and underwent urine culture tests were enrolled, on medical criteria. Demography data , clinical and laboratory findings of infants with confirmed UTI were investigated. Signs and symptoms in order of frequency were: fever, maximum verified temperature, irritability, vomiting, inadequate food intake, dehydration, low weight gain, jaundice, constipation, diarrhea and altered urine. These were itemized as percentages over the total number of recordings found in patient registries. Laboratory data consisted of: urinalysis , a red blood count and a C-reactive protein . The white blood cell count and CRP were described as the median, minimal and maximal values. Microorganisms found in quantitative urine cultures were expressed as number of episodes and percentages. All episodes of UTI caused by urine micropathogens were added and assessed regarding susceptibility to commonly used antimicrobial agents.

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What Is A Urinary Tract Infection

A UTI is a common infection that affects your urinary tract system, which is where urine is collected and eliminated from your body. It includes your kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. Most UTIs involve the lower tract of the urinary system , but the upper tract can also be involved.

The main cause of UTIs is a type of bacteria called Escherichia coli , but other types of bacteria, and even some fungi and viruses, can also cause them.

UTIs can affect people of all ages, and women are up to eight times more likely than men to get them. Typical UTI symptoms can include:

  • Pain or burning during urination

  • Frequent and urgent urination

  • Pain in the pelvic area

  • Waking at night to urinate

  • Blood in the urine

How Are You Tested And Screened For A Uti

If you are experiencing symptoms like painful urination or a frequent urge to use the bathroom, you might be headed toward a UTI diagnosis. To find out for sure, youll need to have a healthcare professional, like your general practitioner, test your urine for both bacteria and other components that could indicate a urinary tract infection. When diagnosing a UTI, a urine test should be standard protocol. That, however, is not always the case. In fact, less than one in five patients treated for a UTI actually has a laboratory urine test to diagnose their problem, according to 2019 study in the journal E Clinical Medicine.30120-8/fulltext” rel=”nofollow”> 2)

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Why You Cant Trust Uti Test Strips

UTI test strips are commonly used as an initial indicator for UTI. Studies have shown these test strips are unreliable, and cannot be used to rule out infection.

Youve probably seen a UTI test strip if youve ever been to a doctor for a suspected UTI, but you can also buy them online or over the counter, to use at home.

Home UTI test strips often contain only two of the indicators listed below.

Specimen Collection Transportation And Processing

Home test for detection of urinary tract infection

Specimen collection. Suprapubic aspiration is the best method to avoid contamination of specimens with bacteria in the distal urethra. This collection method is used infrequently because it is not indicated clinically , it is invasive and uncomfortable, and it requires too much time and too many resources to be practical. Collection of urine by use of a single catheter is the next-best technique for obtaining urine specimens with minimal contamination, but, again, it is not indicated clinically for most patients because it is too labor intensive and costly for routine use and it is invasive. It has added disadvantages, because the process of inserting a catheter through the urethra can introduce bacteria into the bladder , and rare complications have been reported.

As discussed below, correct processing and handling of urine specimens, as well as correct interpretation of test results, is dependent on the method used to collect the specimen. It is, therefore, of obvious importance for clinicians to specify the method of collection on the test requisition slip. Other information that should be included on the test requisition slip includes the date and time of specimen collection, patient demographic information, and any clinically relevant information .

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Appendix 1 Point Of Care Urine Collection Prior To Urine Culture1

Urine Collection

Upon rising or at any time, collect urine in the C& S container provided.

  • Wash and dry hands.
  • Begin urinating into the toilet. Without stopping the flow of urine, place the container in the urine stream to collect some urine and remove the container before the urine stops flowing.
  • Close the container tightly, taking care not to touch the rim or the inside of the container with your fingers.
  • Labelling:

  • Label the container with your name, date of birth, and the date of collection.
  • Packaging:

  • Place the container in the bag provided and securely close the bag.
  • Fold any paperwork and place in the external pocket of the specimen transport bag.
  • This ensures the specimen will not leak onto the paperwork.
  • Storage and Transport:

  • Refrigerate and bring specimen to the laboratory within one hour of collection.
  • References:

    Organism

    The report only includes organisms suspected to be uropathogens . This depends on patient demographics, concentration of the specific organism and the specific laboratory protocol. In urine with multiple organisms, identification may not be performed as it may produce misleading results that are not related to the UTI.

    Antibiotic susceptibilities

    The report only includes antibiotics that can be used for UTI. The specific antibiotics listed depend on the patient demographics, documented antibiotics and allergies, organism identified, colony count of the organism and the specific laboratory protocol.

    References:

    What Is The Treatment For A Uti

    A UTI is most often treated with a round of antibiotics. The type of antibiotic prescribed can vary according to what kind of bacteria you are fighting off, your medical history, and whether or not your UTI has been recurrent. If you continue to have frequent UTIs, you may need to be tested for your susceptibility to them.

    You can begin to treat a UTI at home by drinking plenty of water and urinating frequently. Every opportunity you have to try to flush out some of the bacteria will help your body to recover more quickly. Vitamin C supplements will help boost your immune system. Think of them as ammunition for your white blood cells as they fight the infection.

    The herb goldenseal is sometimes recommended for supplemental treatment of UTIs. At one time, drinking unsweetened cranberry juice was believed to flush out bad bacteria from the urinary tract. However, in recent years, that claim has become hard to prove.

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    Alternative Uti Test Methods You Could Try

    We cannot reiterate enough No evidence of infection is not the same thing as evidence of no infection.

    Or, to put it in a less mind-bending phrase just because your UTI test comes back negative, it does not mean you do not have an infection.

    There ARE other testing options available, ranging from a modified urine culture test, right up to high tech genetic sequencing methods like those described below.

    Check out our expert video series to learn more about how standard urine cultures are misleading and can lead to an inaccurate diagnosis.

    Theres an old expression, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck. It’s gotta be a duck. And so to have somebody who has pain, urgency, frequency and burning, and yet they’re told they don’t have an infection because a urine culture was negative, who do you believe? Are you treating a lab result? Or are you treating a person?

    If you feel you have exhausted your current options and you are still experiencing symptoms that impact your life, it could be time to learn more about how to move forward.

    A number of researchers, specialists and doctors in various countries have developed more comprehensive approaches to conditions such as recurrent UTI, chronic cystitis and Interstitial Cystitis.

    Thanks to their efforts, there are a few alternative testing options you may wish to consider.

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