THE DETECTION OF ASYMPTOMATIC BACTERIURIA DURING PREGNANCY WITH URISTIX-4

500 Urine samples, brought from home by pregnant women without micturition problems for their regular medical check, were tested on the presence of nitrite and leukocyte-esterase with Uristix(R) 4. Also a Uricult(R) dipslide was made. If the Uricult(R) was positive, a quantitative urine culture according to the dilution technique was done. If at least 10 colonies of one and the same bacterium were counted in the quantitative culture, asymptomatic bacteriuria was diagnosed. Of 22 urine specimens the quantitative culture was positive (4.4%). Twelve of these 22 cases of asymptomatic bacteriuria were correctly identified with the nitrite test and/or the leukocyte-esterase test (54.5%). In 8 urine samples of the remaining 10 women one or more micro-organisms were isolated, not capable of reducing nitrate to nitrite. Of the women with a negative nitrite test as well as a negative leukocyte-esterase test, 97.5% turned out to have no bacteriuria at all. It is concluded, that the nitrite test, nor the leukocyte-esterase test alone, are adequate in diagnosing asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women when using urine specimens, collected at home under non-standardized conditions. However, when the results of both tests are combined, it is possible to select most pregnant women without bacteriuria under these circumstances.