Endocervical Pathogens in Women with Preterm and Term Labour

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the endocervical microflora of women in preterm and term labour and to determine whether the presence of a specific microflora is significantly associated with preterm labour. A prospective study was performed in Lithuania among 212 women in preterm labour (latent phase, n = 110; active phase, n = 102) and among 62 healthy women in term labour. Microbiological assessment included cultures for aerobic bacteria, yeasts, and Trichomonasvaginalis and direct immunofluorescence reaction for Chlamydiatrachomatis, Escherichiacoli (odds ratio 8.16; 95% confidence interval 1.27–340.23) and Staphylococcusaureus (odds ratio 7.79; 95% confidence interval 1.21-325.40) were significantly more often isolated from women in preterm than from women in term labour. The prevalence of C. trachomatis was the same in the preterm and in the term labour group. The pregnancy outcome during the latent or the active phase of preterm labour with or without C. trachomatis infection did not differ. It is concluded that E. coli and S. aureus are significantly more prevalent in endocervical cultures from Lithuanian women in preterm than from those in term labour.

Antibiotic use during pregnancy alters the commensal vaginal microbiota

“…Ascending pathogens from the vagina constitute the most likely source of intrauterine infection, and abnormal colonization of the genital tract has been associated with subsequent preterm birth [21]. Vaginal E. coli has likewise been described as an independent risk factor for preterm birth [22,23] and a major contributor to neonatal infection [24,25]. Preventive strategies leading to increased antibiotic use in pregnancy may therefore indirectly increase adverse pregnancy outcomes and early-onset neonatal sepsis, caused by an increased rate of vaginal colonization by E. coli.…”

Living with Cat and Dog Increases Vaginal Colonization with E. coli in Pregnant Women

“…UTI during pregnancy increases the risk of maternal preeclampsia [17] and the risk of preterm childbirth and low-birth-weight children [18]. Ascending pathogens from the vagina is the most likely source of intrauterine infection and vaginal E. coli has been described as an independent risk factor for preterm birth [19], [20] and a major contributor to neonatal infection [21], [22].…”

A case‐referent study on fetal bacteremia and late fetal death of unknown etiology in Lithuania

“…E. coli as well as GBS are frequently isolated bacteria from neonates with early sepsis (26,27). Similar colonization with E. coli is also associated with a higher risk of preterm labor and preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (27,28). In one fifth of cases with positive blood cultures no histological signs of intrauterine infection were detected.…”