Risk of Urinary Tract Infection and Bacteremia in Infants Infected With COVID-19.

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) and bacteremia in infants 1 year or less of age infected with COVID-19.
Methods: This was a retrospective study from TriNetX database in the United States. This study was from March 11, 2020, to May 11, 2023, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients were included if they were infants, 1 year or less, had a fever, and had a COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction test 1 week before or after presentation to the emergency department (ED) or hospital. We compared outcomes of bacteremia and a UTI in those with COVID-19 and those without COVID-19. Propensity matching was done to account for the confounders of age, gender, race, immune disorders, genitourinary abnormalities, preterm birth, and circumcision.
Results: Infants who were positive for COVID-19 were at a reduced risk of UTI and bacteremia. There was a significant decreased risk of having a UTI if one had COVID-19 (1.0%) versus those without COVID-19 (2.3%) (risk ratio = 0.37, 95% confidence interval = 0.37-0.50, P < 0.001). For bacteremia, there was also a decreased risk if the infant had COVID-19 (0.4%), versus those without COVID-19 (0.5%) (risk ratio = 0.74, 95% confidence interval = 0.56-0.97, P = 0.03).
Conclusions: Infants with fever found to have COVID-19 had lower risks of UTI and bacteremia.
Competing Interests: Disclosure: By Pediatric Emergency Care, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article as per ICMJE conflict of interest guidelines (see www.icmje.org). The authors declare no conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)