Q: My 5-year-old daughter has a low level of E. coli in her urine. I am concerned because her doctor says that it is resistant to antibiotics. Does this mean it will get worse? If it does, will there be nothing to treat her with? Her level is 50, 000. Please advise.

A:Just growing E. coli in the urine and that too 50 thousand colonies/ml may not be significant. If there are no pus cells in the urine and the child does not have symptoms related to UTI, it might be normal and due to faulty collection. I suggest that you get your child fully evaluated by your paediatrician. If he confirms there is urine infection i.e. symptoms, presence of pus cells and a colony count of more than 100,000 organisms/ml, then the child needs treatment and further evaluation. It is also important to ensure that the urine sample for culture is collected early in the morning, is from the middle part of the stream (mid-stream) and is transported to the microbiology laboratory without undue delay, for an accurate report.