Sir.—The communication by Simon in the July issue of the Journal (128:21, 1974), associating pinworm infestation with urinary tract infection, is deserving of critical comment.
We are told that the 28 patients in his series had "... urinary frequency, dysuria, proteinuria, and pyuria. Some had gross hematuria and some were febrile." What is not clear, however, is whether any of the girls had a positive urine culture. Urinary tract infection is not the only cause of the symptoms and findings cited, and to use them as the sole diagnostic criteria in a study such as this would seem to be unacceptable. If cultures were done, mention of the organisms isolated would be germane in view of the hypothesized carriage of colonic flora by pinworms.
Furthermore, the method of urine collection is not specified. Girls with pinworm infestation could well have vulvovaginal inflammation, which could result in white blood cells appearing