Comparison of Co-trimoxazole and Cephalexin Efficacy in Preventing Urinary Tract Infection among Children

Diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children before kidney damage is necessary. The purpose of this study was to compare efficacy of co-trimoxazole and cephalexin in the prevention of recurrent UTI in children.

The study was performed on 100 children aged three months to 14 years who were referred to the Taleghani Pediatric Hospital in Gorgan (Iran) during 2016. The subjects had a history of UTI and required antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent UTI. They were divided into two groups of co-trimoxazole and cephalexin. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 18) and at significance level of 0.05.

Recurrent UTI was observed in eight children (16.0%) taking cephalexin and in six children (12.0%) receiving co-trimoxazole (p=0.56). Urine culture examination revealed Escherichia coli as the causative agent of UTI in six cases (75 %) receiving cephalexin and in five cases (83.3%) receiving co-trimoxazole (p=0.70). It should be noted that unilateral moderate hydronephrosis was the most frequent anomaly (n=26) in the study groups.

According to the results of the present study, both cephalexin and co-trimoxazole have similar efficacy in the prevention of UTI among children.