FREQUENCY OF URINARY TRACT INFECTION AND UROPATHOGEN SENSITIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH MALNUTRITION

Submission: 10/09/2025

Acceptance: 12/10/2025

Publication: 25/12/2025

Sulaiman shah¹, Arshia Munir¹, Akram Ullah¹, Shah Fahad Afridi¹, Sadiq Akbar¹, Sadiq Amin¹

¹Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar

Corresponding Author

Dr Arshia Munir

Associate Professor

Department Of Paediatrics

Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar

Email:

ABSTRACT:

Introduction: Children who are malnourished are more vulnerable to both clinical and subclinical UTIs because they have weakened immune systems. A UTI is a dangerous illness that can cause sepsis and other potentially fatal outcomes in kids. This study will give us up-to-date data on the prevalence of UTIs in undernourished children, as no research has been conducted on this topic in the last five years. The results of the study will also be disseminated to other researchers and medical professionals.

Materials and Procedures: Total 212 patients aged 4 to 12 with malnutrition were included. Children with a history of antibiotic use within the previous two weeks, a history of urinary tract infections, and congenital or acquired urinary tract anatomical anomalies were not included. Within 30 minutes of the patient’s mid-urination sample being taken, it was delivered to the hospital lab for urinalysis in an aseptic, airtight jar. A urinalysis revealing more than 10 white cells/hpf in a mid-urinary sample taken in an aseptic airtight jar and a patient’s core body temperature exceeding 38° C on a thermometer indicated the presence of a urinary tract infection.

Results: I discovered that 38 (17.92%) of the malnourished patients in our study had urinary tract infections. E. coli was found in 16 (42.11%), Klebsiella pneumoniae in 12 (31.58%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 07 (18.42%), and Staphylococcus aureus in 03 (7.89%) of the malnourished patients who had UTIs. Amikacin, amoxacillin-clavulanate, erythromycin, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, Meropenem, and pipercallin-tazobactam all had antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of 84.21%, 68.42%, 71.05%, 76.32%, 73.68%, 94.74%, and 89.47%, respectively.

Conclusion: According to our research, children who are malnourished have a significant prevalence of UTIs. Gram-negative organisms were the most often isolated, with E. coli being the most prevalent.

Keywords: malnourished, urinary tract infection, E. coli, antibiotics, sensitivity.