UTI in children:
- Cystitis can be treated with nitrofurantoin or amoxycillin for duration of 5-7 days.
- Acute pyelonephritis and complicated UTI is best treated with amikacin as a single dose for the first few days till the child is accepting oral feeds. Thereafter the antibiotic may be changed to an oral preparation based on susceptibility pattern. Duration of treatment is 14 days. There is no role for a short-term treatment in children.
- Children with a Vesicoureteric reflux may be treated with antibiotic prophylaxis as a single nighttime dose. Co-trimoxazole or Nitrofurantoin is preferred in children beyond three months of age.