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

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.

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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Jump to another section of this article Neonatal Infections E. Coli Infection, Meningitis, and Sepsis Conjunctivitis, Candidiasis, and Congenital Infections Complications of Neonatal Infections, Can Neonatal Infections Be Prevented?, and When to Call Your Child's Doctor Reviewer name and date on last page