Prevalence of symptomless urinary tract disease in Birmingham schoolchildren. I. Pyuria and bacteriuria.

In a pilot project 2,122 schoolchildren were screened for symptomless urinary tract disease by the examination of midstream urine specimens. These were tested for albumin, blood, and glucose with Labstix commercial strips, together with microscopy for abnormal cellular excretion.One case of renal glycosuria was found but none of previously undiagnosed diabetes mellitus. Out of 1,096 boys, 11 (1%) had pyuria-a leucocyte count greater than 10/cu.mm.-but only four showed abnormal counts on retesting. None had urinary tract infection.Out of 1,026 girls, 96 (9.3%) had pyuria initially but 35 were normal on retesting. Of the remaining 61 girls, 59 attended the outpatients department for further investigation, and in 30 vulvitis appeared to be the sole cause. Ten were proved to have significant bacteriuria and six of them showed radiological abnormalities.It is suggested that careful long-term studies are needed to study the economics and the implications of screening on a national scale.