(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- About 12 percent of all births in the United States
are preterm, putting children at risk for lifelong physical and neurological
damage. Results of a new study may have found a preventable cause of many of
these premature births.
From an analysis of amniotic fluid samples from women in preterm labor,
researchers found 15 percent of fluid samples contained bacteria or fungi. The
greater level of the infection, the more likely the women were to deliver
sicker, younger infants. That number is more than 50 percent greater than
previous estimates.
“To find that this amniotic compartment … is infected significantly more often
than we thought is a little shocking,” David Reiman, M.D., a professor of
infectious disease and of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University
School of Medicine, was quoted as saying.
Researchers say infections of the amniotic fluid likely contribute to preterm
delivers by causing inflammation in pregnant women. Microbes can enter the
amniotic sac from the vagina or through the mother’s bloodstream -- often from
her mouth. Both gum disease and bacterial vaginosis have been linked to
premature delivery.
“If we could prevent these infections in the first place, or detect them sooner,
we might one day be able to prevent some of these premature births,” Dan
DiGiulio, M.D., a researcher from Stanford University School of Medicine, was
quoted as saying.
SOURCE: PLoS ONE, 2008
