Role of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Chlamydia trachomatis in lung disease in low birth weight infants.

Forty four ventilated premature infants from three Neonatal Intensive Care Units around Melbourne were evaluated prospectively for evidence of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Chlamydia trachomatis infection in the respiratory tract. No C. trachomatis was found and this probably reflects the low prevalence of genital carriage in antenatal patients in our population. Nine percent of babes were colonized at birth with Ureaplasma urealyticum and 5% acquired colonization. One child whose mother was bacteremic for ureaplasma, had evidence of persistent respiratory colonization and development of pneumonia at day 16 of life, supporting a role for this organism as a respiratory pathogen. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) occurred in 39% of the infants. Ureaplasma carriage correlated significantly with BPD development, as 29% of infants with BPD were ureaplasma positive compared to 4% of those without development of BPD (p = 0.02).