No abstract

Preterm infants who were immunized with the hexavalent DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib vaccine at 2, 4, and 6 months displayed good immune response to all antigens. The availability of this vaccine greatly facilitates the vaccination of premature infants.

Although the incidence of early onset sepsis caused by E. coli remained stable during the study period, antibiotic-resistant E. coli infections increased among preterm infants. On the whole these trends are reassuring with respect to GBS prophylaxis. However, the increase in the proportion of ampicillin-resistant infections in preterm infants suggests that continuing evaluation of the risks and benefits of prophylaxis in this group is critical.

No abstract

Human Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of intrauterine and perinatal infections worldwide. Postnatal CMV transmission has usually no consequences, but in some cases it may produce disease in preterm infants. Literature reports a broad range of breast milk-acquired CMV infections (5.7-58.6%), which depends on the study's design and the treatment of the milk. To evaluate CMV transmission via breast milk, a prospective study using a real-time PCR assay was performed. One hundred and thirty-one mothers (accounting for 160 children) accepted the participation in the study. Urine samples from the infants and breast milk samples from their mothers were collected at 3, 15, 30, 60, and 90 days after delivery. CMV-DNA in breast milk was analysed by quantitative real-time PCR assay Affigene® CMV Trender (Cepheid, Bromma, Sweden). The breast milk samples from 92 mothers (92 of 131, 70.2%) were positive for CMV by PCR. CMV infection was detected in thirteen children by PCR, and four of them (30.7%) had clinical symptoms. There were not significant differences in morbidity between symptomatic and non- symptomatic patients; nonetheless, the average length of hospitalization in symptomatic children was higher than that of non-symptomatic children (P < 0.05). The rtPCR technique is useful for detection of mothers with high viral loads of CMV-DNA in milk, and might be of help to decide whether to freeze the breast milk in preterm children less than 28 weeks.