Bacterial infections in the newborns.

In the care of 5178 live newborns from October 1971 to October 1974, 252 (4.7%) cases of bacterial infections were diagnosed. Of this number, 131 were full-term and 121 premature newborns. The three most frequent types of infections were gastroenteritis (103 cases = 40.8%), urinary tract infections (77 cases = 30.5%), and septicaemia (51 cases = 20.2%). The three organisms most frequently found were E. coli, Proteus and Enterobacter. The prevalence of gram-negative over gram-posivite germs was very remarkable. In 38 infected newborns the highest IgM levels were achieved at the acme of the illness, and they decreased when the infection subsided.