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The infant’s genital area should be clean and dry. When you attach a collection device to collect the urine, you have to be sure that you have done it carefully, to prevent leakage. After the baby has urinated, you should transfer the urine to a sterile container for transport back to the health care provider.
Then, the health care provider will smell the specimen in a laboratory to determine its odor. No special preparation is necessary for this test, but if you took the collection from an infant, a couple of extra collection bags may be necessary. The test for urine odor involves only normal urination, and there is no discomfort. The normal odor of urine is aromatic. An abnormal urine odor may indicate liver failure, ketonuria, maple sugar urine disease, phenylketonuria, rectal fistula, or urinary tract infection.
When urine sits at room temperature, some of the chemicals in it may break down and cause an ammonia-like odor in some cases. It is important to remember that asparagus produces a characteristic odor in the urine.
Risk factors that increase the chances of getting a urinary tract infection
- Pregnancy and menopause,
- Kidney stones,
- Sexual intercourse, especially if you have multiple partners or use a diaphragm for birth control,
are risk factors for getting a UTI [12].
If you had
- Prostate inflammation or enlargement,
- A narrowed urethra,
- Or have been immobile for a long time, for example, during recovery from a hip fracture,
you also have an increased risk of developing UTIs.
Persons who are
- Not drinking enough fluids,
- Who have bowel incontinence or catheterization
also have an increased risk of developing urinary tract infections.
Children, circumcision and the risk of urinary tract infections
Some children develop UTIs, most commonly boys before their first birthday. UTIs are more common among uncircumcised boys. In young girls, UTIs are most common around age three, overlapping with the toilet training period.
A few of the studies that have evaluated the association between UTIs in male infants and circumcision status have looked at potential confounders. [13, 14] Those are, for example, prematurity, breastfeeding, and method of urine collection. For example, because premature infants appear to be at increased risk for UTI, the inclusion of hospitalized premature infants in a study population may act as a confounder. It is commonly suggested that uncircumcised infants have an increased risk of UTIs. Premature infants usually did not have a circumcision because of their fragile health status. In another example, breastfeeding has a threefold protective effect on the incidence of urinary tract infections in a sample of uncircumcised infants.