Without a Urinary Catheter

Urinalysis and urine cultures must be interpreted together in context of symptoms.

Nitrites indicate the presence of a nitrate reducing microorganism such as Escherichia coli or any other member of the Enterobacteriaceae family.

Nitrites will be negative if the infection is due to a non-nitrate reducing organism such as Enterococcus

Leukocyte esterase indicates white blood cells in the urine

Bacteriuria: presence of bacteria on urinalysis should be interpreted with caution and is not generally useful

More sensitive than leukocyte esterase: >5-10 WBC/hpf or >27 WBC/microliter