DOH alarmed over rise in UTI cases among children

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH) has expressed worries over the growing number of cases of urinary problems, especially among children, in the country. Doctor Yolanda Oliveros, director of the Health department’s National Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said the trend of urinary tract infection (UTI) cases among children has been on the rise in recent years. "(We are) seeing some increasing trend of younger groups or younger population that are developing kidney stones," Gutierrez told GMA News reporter JP Soriano. Of the six million elementary students examined from 1994 to 1999, 1.5 million developed kidney stones, meaning one in four pupils had UTI. UTI is an infection caused by bacteria in the bladder or the kidney. Experts have said the infection could be hereditary, caused by certain eating habits, or due to resisting urinatation. Gloria Cabuanan, a mother of a UTI patient, told GMA News she was worried her eating habits during her pregnancy played a role in her son’s development of the infection. She said she used to eat anything from noodles to junk food while she was pregnant with Mark Christian. The five-year-old UTI patient, who had regularly been visiting the doctor due to the said infection, developed kidney stones as early as when he was just eight months old. Asked if the spike in the trend could be attributed to the possibility of chemical contamination in food products, Oliveros said they would consider the idea given that effects of the ingestion of some chemicals in food may take some time before they becomes evident. "In any chemical exposure for that matter, may tinatawag na cumulative effect. Mayroong certain level kung saan doon nag-mamanifest ang symptoms," Oliveros said. "So we cannot discount the fact that there had been some exposures in the past," she added. However, she assured that the DOH has no medical record that would show a connection between the infant infections and their consumption of formula milk. Concerns were raised about the possible link between the UTI cases and the discovery of tainted milk from China, which has already caused thousands of infant deaths in China. The allegedly tainted milk products were found to cause the development of kidney stones among their consumers. The culprit was later traced to a chemical, called melamine, being mixed with milk formulas. The nitrogen-rich chemical is used to make it appear that milk products have high levels of protein. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV