Socio-demographic factors associated with asymptomatic bacteriuria in children with sickle cell anemia in a tertiary health facility in South eastern, Nigeria

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common cause of chronic kidney disease in children. It is second only to respiratory tract infection in developed countries as a cause of morbidity and mortality arising from microbial infections. It is also common in a developing country like Nigeria and is the commonest cause of renal disorders in Port Harcourt, South South, Nigeria. UTI can be symptomatic or asymptomatic (asymptomatic bacteriuria). Asymptomatic bacteriuria is said to be more common in school aged girls and children of low socio-economic class. It has also been documented to be more common in children with sickle cell anaemia. Objectives:To determine the relationship between asymptomatic bacteriuria and age, sex and socio-economic status of children with sickle cell anaemia. Methods: One hundred children with sickle cell anaemia in stable state were screened for asymptomatic bacteriuria using midstream urine samples. The age, sex and social class of the children were obtained through a structured questionnaire administered to the parents/care-givers. The relationship between age, sex and social class with asymptomatic bacteriuria in these children was analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The age of the children ranged from 2-12 years. Six of the 100 children were noted to have asymptomatic bacteriuria and five of the six children were females (p=0.04).Five (83.3%) of the six children were five years and above. There was a predominance of positive cases (66.7%) in the higher socioeconomic class (p=0.03). Conclusion: Asymptomatic bacteriuria is commoner in school aged female sickle cell anaemia children of higher socioeconomic class. However, we suggest that further studies be done to confirm this finding especially with regards to the socioeconomic status of these children