[Relationship of gastric aspirate fluid examination to infections in the newborn infant in cases of premature rupture of the membranes].

In fifty newborn babies, gastric aspirate fluids obtained during the one-hour post partum period were examined from the stand point of PML and cultures. A susceptibility to infections (especially lung infections and sepsis) were established in 8 (30.8%) out of 26 cases with EMR more than twelve hours. PML counts of these cases were 13 and more than 13 per high power field. Significant differences were found between the babies with and without EMR, from the point-of-view of PML count in gastric aspirate fluid and the increased incidence of infections (p less than 0.05).