UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) is an infection of urinary tract. The urinary tract includes kidneys, Bladder and urethra. Kidneys are two bean shaped structures and they filter and remove wastes and fluids from the blood to produce urine, and this urine travels down through a narrow tube called ureter and then stored in sac like organ called bladder. In a child bladder can hold 29 – 44 ml of urine for each year of child’s age so a bladder of 4- years old can hold 116 – 174 ml of urine and a bladder of 8-years old can hold 230- 350 ml of urine. As the bladder empties a muscle called sphincter relaxes and urine flows out through urethra. Normally urine does not contain any bacteria but the bacteria from skin and genitals enter into bladder.

It is estimated that one million children are affected every year.

It is seen more common in girls than boys. The prevalence of UTI is more in febrile infants with younger age with a rate of 7% among febrile new borns. In boys UTIs are more common around age 1 and in girls around age 3. In children UTIs includes vesicoureteral reflux also.