Symptoms of urinary tract infection in baby girls

The most obvious symptom of urinary tract infection in babies is fever, which leads many parents to mistakenly believe that their babies just have a cold and thus misdiagnose the disease. Sometimes parents cannot give their children medicine based solely on their own judgment, as other diseases may also have such symptoms. You must pay more attention. So, dear parents, please continue reading after reading this. Let’s learn about the symptoms of urinary tract infection in babies.

1. Crying, refusing to feed, and being irritable are manifestations of discomfort and pain in the urethra;

2. Diapers need to be changed frequently, but the amount of urine excreted each time is not much;

3. Diaper rash and odorous diapers are common in the perineum;

4. Fever, unwillingness to eat, pale complexion, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal distension, etc.;

5. When the baby's systemic symptoms are more serious, there will be growth stagnation, slow weight gain, and even convulsions, drowsiness, jaundice and other manifestations.

Baby urinary tract infection usually refers to lower urinary tract infection, which is urethritis and cystitis. Due to the physiological and anatomical characteristics of children and their inability to express themselves effectively, infants and young children often urinate more frequently, unconsciously touch and scratch the external genitalia with their hands, and the external urethral opening may be found to be red and swollen when cleaning the area. Some children have urethral secretions and hematuria. Older children can usually clearly describe symptoms of urinary tract irritation. It is usually not difficult to diagnose urethritis and cystitis. Regular and adequate antimicrobial drug treatment can cure urethral infection. Only when some children have other causes of urethral infection, such as posterior urethral valves, urethral malformations, etc., do they need further surgical treatment.

What causes urinary tract infection in babies?

1. Young babies need to use diapers frequently and cannot control urination and defecation, so the urethra opening is often contaminated by feces. In particular, female babies have shorter urethral openings, and male babies have foreskin of the penis. In addition, the urinary tract immune function and bladder defense mechanism are weak, which makes it easy for the urinary tract to have ascending infection.

2. Congenital malformations of the urinary tract have a higher incidence among all congenital malformations of the body. Malformations of the ureter, bladder, and lower urethra, for example, are prone to urinary tract infections.

3. The baby's body is not yet fully developed and is easily invaded by bacteria, so there is a high chance of using antibiotics. If antibiotics are abused, Gram-negative bacteria, especially Escherichia coli, will easily become dominant, destroying the defense barrier around the urethra, causing bacteria to invade the urinary tract and cause infection.

4. Babies whose mothers have bacteriuria during pregnancy or who lack breastfeeding after birth are also more likely to suffer from urinary tract infections. It is also related to the baby's physique. For example, weak local immune function and bladder defense mechanism can easily cause urinary tract infection.