When parents have a new baby, the last thing they want to think
about is an illness that delays the infant's discharge from the hospital or
requires readmission. Sometimes, however, young infants come down with
infections that require additional tests and treatment.
Newborns are particularly susceptible to certain diseases, much more so than
older children and adults. Their new immune systems aren't adequately developed
to fight the bacteria, viruses, and parasites that cause these infections. As a
result, when newborns have one of these illnesses, they may need to spend time
in the hospital - or even the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) - to recover.
Although it can be frightening to see your baby hospitalized, a hospital stay is
often the best ticket back to health when infants are diagnosed with a neonatal
infection.
Common Neonatal Infections
Group B Streptococcal Disease (GBS)
What is this condition? Group B streptococcus is a bacterium that can cause a
variety of infections in newborns. Some of the most common are sepsis,
pneumonia, and meningitis. Babies
usually get the bacterium from their mothers during birth - one in four or five
pregnant women carries this common bacterium in her rectum or vagina, where it
can easily pass to the newborn in the absence of preventive antibiotic treatment
of the mother.
Babies with GBS often show signs of infection within the first week of life,
although some develop late-onset disease several weeks or even months after
birth. Depending on the infection that the bacterium causes (pneumonia or
sepsis, for example), the infant might exhibit trouble breathing or feeding, an
unstable temperature, listlessness, or unusual crankiness.
How is it diagnosed and treated? To diagnose GBS, doctors run blood
tests and take cultures of blood, urine,
and, if necessary, cerebrospinal fluid to look for the bacterium. (For cultures,
doctors place a sample of the child's blood or other fluid in a dish with a
nutrient-rich medium and then wait to see if a bacterium grows in it. These
tests can identify several types of disease-causing bacteria at once, including
GBS, Listeria, and E. coli.) Infections caused by GBS are
treated with antibiotics, as well as careful care and monitoring in the
hospital.
Listeriosis
What is this condition? Infection with Listeria
monocytogenes can lead to diseases such as pneumonia, sepsis, and
meningitis. Most people encounter the Listeria bacterium when they eat
contaminated food - the bacterium is found in soil and water and can end up on
fruits and vegetables, as well as in foods that come from animals, such as meat
and dairy products. Food that isn't properly cleaned, pasteurized, or cooked may
give someone listeriosis.
Babies can acquire the bacterium from their mothers if they contract
listeriosis while pregnant. In severe cases, listeriosis may lead to premature
delivery or even stillbirth. Babies born with listeriosis may show signs of
infection that are similar to those of GBS.
How is it diagnosed and treated? A blood or spinal fluid culture can
reveal the presence of the bacterium, and infected babies will be treated with
antibiotics in the hospital.
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