20/04/2026
Ottawa, Ontario — Monday April 20, 2026
In the pediatric emergency department, figuring out whether a child’s fever is caused by a urinary tract infection (UTI) is a frequent challenge, especially with tricky symptoms and children too young to understand or cooperate.
Both missed and over diagnosed UTIs carry consequences, from delayed treatment to unnecessary invasive testing and antibiotic use, underscoring the role of tools like UTICalc – which estimates a young child’s risk of UTI using clinical and laboratory data – in supporting diagnostic decisions.
A new study from Ceilidh Kinlin followed more than 2,500 children aged 2 months to 2 years who presented with fever to provide the first prospective external validation of UTICalc. Researchers explored UTICalc’s ability to differentiate between children with and without UTI, the accuracy of its risk estimates, and its usefulness in guiding subsequent testing decisions.
“For families, this is about making sure children get the right tests and treatment, without anything that they don’t need. UTICalc can help clinicians avoid unnecessary testing or treatment while still identifying the children who do need further investigation.” – Dr. Ceilidh Kinlin
UTICalc performed well, especially when urine dipstick results were included, helping to identify which children were more or less likely to have a UTI and guiding decisions about testing and treatment.
This research represents a final step in validating UTICalc and an important advance for the scientific community, suggesting that it can support better decision-making and may lead to more comfortable care for children and families.