Urinary Tract Infection in Spontaneous Urticaria among Thi-Qar Patients

Urticaria is a common worldwide disease characterized by local transient skin or mucosal edema (wheal), deeper tissues involvement (angioedema), or both. It is classified into acute (initially) and chronic (after 6 weeks’ duration); and into spontaneous (symptoms occur spontaneously) or inducible (in response to specific stimuli). Occasionally, infections are blamed as an underlying cause; of them are urinary tract infections (UTIs). An equal number (465) of urticaria patients and their age-sex matched controls were evaluated for presence of UTIs in a case-control observational study. Pyuria was found in (19.8%) of urticaria patients and (7.7%) of controls; while urine culture was positive in (8.2%) of urticaria patients and (2.4%) of controls. Association of urticaria with both pyuria and positive culture results were highly significant (p value < 0.001).