Rapid screening for bacteriuria with a laser nephelometer.

Detection of significant bacteriuria with a laser nephelometer was evaluated in this study and compared with the results obtained by the quantitative loop method. We screened 1002 urine specimens and 220 (21.95%) were found to be positive at greater than or equal to 10(5) colony-forming units (CFU)/mL of urine by the standard method. Of the 220 positive specimens, 210 (95.4%) were detected in 6 h or less and 177 (80.4%) were detected within 3 h. The false-positive rate was 2.3% at 3 h and 19.7% at 6 h. These findings suggest that a 6-h procedure is necessary to detect 95% or more of significant bacteriuria. Laser nephelometer is versatile and can be used for rapid screening of bacteriuria.