Long term antibiotic prophylaxis for recurrent urinary tract infections is recommended to prevent further recurrences and renal scarring. We aimed to evaluate retrospectively the effect of prophylactic antibiotic treatment on the recurrence rate of urinary tract infections and renal scarring in children living in a developing community. One hundred and eight patients with recurrent urinary tract infections [M/F: 29/79] were enrolled in this study. Voiding cystourethrography and serial ^99mTc-dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphy results of the patients were evaluated retrospectively. Urodynamic study was not performed in all the children. Scintigraphic evaluation was a/so not performed in all the recurrences. Children were classified with respect to age (younger or older than 5 years), and the presence or absence of vesicoureteral reflux and renal scarring. Duration of antibiotic prophylaxis as well as the number of the recurrent infections involving either upper or lower urinary tracts and new scar formation during follow up were identified. The efficiencies of the various antibiotics used for prophylaxis in suppressing the recurrences and preventing renal scarring were evaluated. Mean age of the patients was 57.3 ±44.4 months. The number of the children under and over five years of age were 63 (58.3%) and 45 (41.7%) respectively. Mean follow up period was 22.1±16.1 months. Vesicoureteral reflux and renal scarring ratios in all of the patients were 43.5% and 34.2% respectively. Boys and girls did not differ with respect to the presence of vesicoureteral reflux or renal scarring in both age groups (p>0.05). In addition, children who are younger or older than five years of age did not differ with respect to the presence of vesicoureteral reflux. However, those who are older than five years had significantly higher rate of renal scarring (p<0.05). Presence of vesicoureteral reflux without renal scarring was significantly higher among the girls younger than five years than those older than five years, while the opposite was true for the presence of renal scarring without vesicoureteral reflux (p<0.05). Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, nitrofurantoin, amoxicillin and cefaclor were the antibiotics used for prophylaxis. Escherichia coli was the most frequently cultured organism (69.4%). Mean number of recurrences was 2.6/patient/year. Recurrence rate of UTIs did not differ with respect to age, sex or presence or absence of vesicoureteral reflux (p>0.05). None of the antibiotics was different from the others with respect to the ability to prevent recurrences (p>0.05). In addition, there was no difference in prevention of recurrences with respect to age, sex, presence or absence of vesicoureteral reflux and renal scarring for each antibiotic (p>0.05). These recurrences led to the development of new renal scars in four (13.3%) of the patients with vesicoureteral reflux, and in five (6.4%) of the patients without vesicoureteral reflux (p<0.001).