EMERGENCE OF BACTERIURIA, PROTEINURIA, AND SYMPTOMATIC URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS AMONG A POPULATION OF SCHOOL GIRLS FOLLOWED FOR 7 YEARS

Abstract

A prospective study is presented of emergence of bacteriuria and proteinuria in a large population of girls who were studied on six occasions over a period of 7 years after entering school. Data were also collected on the frequency and age of onset of overt urinary tract infections, treated as such, by physicians in the community. The cumulative rate of bacteriuria over the first 7 years of school was 2.9%, with an annual mean conversion rate of 0.32% per year. The prevalence of bacteriuria was not significantly different in white and Negro girls, but overt episodes of urinary tract infection were rare in Negro girls. The emergence of bacteriuria and overt infection appear to be linear with time up to age 12 to 15 years, as though girls were at equal risk during the entire observation period. Further prospective study of this population should establish whether the projected rate of 5% of detectable bacteriuria can be demonstrated by the time that these girls are graduated from high school. Proteinuria in childhood was not related to bacteriuria and, even though much more common (cumulatively 12.9%), was usually sporadic and frequently limited to one or two observed episodes. In view of the high frequency of bacteriuria in school girls and its tendency to recur, it is probable that infection acquired at this time in life may well serve as a reservoir for overt disease encountered in adult women.