[Urinary tract infection in a pediatrics emergency department: frequency and clinical parameters].

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a frequent bacterial infection in children. The objective was to define the profile of children with UTI that consulted in a Chilean pediatric emergency department (PED). We reviewed 18302 consultants and identified 1173 patients in whom urine culture (UC) were obtained. UC was positive in 264 cases. UTI represented 1.34% from total consultants and 21% from whom UC were obtained. UTI was 1.78 times more frequent in girls. The most common clinical presentation was fever and urinary tract symptoms. In older than 2 years, urinary tract symptoms and previous UTI, was a risk factor for UTI. The most frequent organism isolated was Escherichia coli (86%). Nine percent of child with UTI were hospitalized. UTI is a frequent diagnosis in PED and is important to consider urinalysis in febrile infants, especially boys younger than 12 months.