Positive urine nitrite test: an accurate predictor of absence of pure enterococcal bacteriuria. Journal   The Southern medical journal. Citation   South Med J. 93(7):681-2 Publication date   2000 Jul Authors   Holloway J Joshi N O'Bryan T Investigators   Thomas A. O'Bryan MeSH headings   Bacteriuria Enterococcus Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections Nitrites Urinary Tract Infections MeSH qualifiers   urine diagnosis Abstract   BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the potential ability of the urine nitrite test (NT) to predict the class of organism causing urinary tract infection. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of all adult patients with a positive urine culture over a 6-month period. The infecting microorganisms and the urine NT results were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 729 positive cultures met inclusion criteria. Twenty-one (11%) of the 190 gram-positive organisms and 199 (46%) of the 429 gram-negative organisms yielded a positive NT. Only 5.3% of samples with pure growth of enterococcus yielded a positive NT. The predictive value that a sample yielding a positive NT would show pure growth of enterococcus was low at 2.3%. CONCLUSION: A positive NT is highly predictive of the absence of pure enterococcal bacteriuria. Medline ID   20378477