In 1918, Helmholz recognized the cryptogenic nature and underdiagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI) in the newborn. His observations still hold true today. There are no specific signs of UTI in a newborn; the clinical presentation can vary, ranging from…
Osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis occurring in the first 2 months of life is uncommon. During the worldwide pandemic of staphylococcal disease from the early 1950s to the early 1960s, pediatric centers in Europe, Australia, and North America reported the infrequent occurrence of…
Infections of the Oral Cavity and Nasopharynx Pharyngitis, Retropharyngeal Cellulitis, and Retropharyngeal Abscess Neonates with bacterial infection of the oropharynx may present with pharyngeal inflammation with or without exudate or with retropharyngeal cellulitis or abscess. Clinical signs and symptoms include respiratory…
Acknowledgment Drs. S. Michael Marcy, Carol Baker and Debra L. Palazzi contributed to this chapter in earlier editions. The authors are indebted to these scholars for their roles in the preparation of this chapter. Bacterial sepsis in the neonate is…
Mother’s milk delivered naturally through breastfeeding has been the sole source of infant nutrition in mammalian species for millions of years. Since human beings learned to domesticate cattle about 10,000 years ago, nonhuman mammalian milk also has been used to…
The human fetus and neonate are unduly susceptible to infection with a wide variety of microbes, many of which are not pathogenic in more mature individuals. This susceptibility results from limitations of both innate and adaptive (antigen-specific) immunity and their…
Overview Obstetric infections remain an important and potentially preventable contributor to maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Intraamniotic infection (IAI) is associated with 20% of all preterm births (PTBs) and 50% of extreme PTBs at 28 weeks of gestation or…
Acknowledgment The authors are grateful to Dr. Danyal Thaver for excellent assistance with article references and editing of this chapter. Among the greatest challenges in global public health are to eliminate the gaps between high- and low-income countries in health…
Overview Current concepts of pathogenesis, microbiology, diagnosis, and management of infections of the fetus and newborn are reviewed in this chapter with the goal of providing a brief synthesis and overview. Information within this chapter regarding specific infections or syndromes…