Antimicrobial therapy associated with preterm birth

Abstract

The effect of 51 antimicrobial drugs was evaluated for the reduction of preterm birth. Newborn infants without birth defects were selected from the population-based large data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities, 1980-1996, for the study. Medically recorded gestational age and the proportion of preterm birth were the primary outcomes of the study and newborn infants born to mothers with or without a given antimicrobial drug were compared. The use of 51 antimicrobial drugs in the mothers of 38 151 newborn infants including at least ten pregnant women was evaluated. Only two: ampicillin and clotrimazole showed an obvious preterm birth preventive effect, mainly after the use during the first trimester of pregnancy. Our findings suggest that ampicillin and particularly clotrimazole may be effective for the reduction of preterm birth associated with infectious diseases of pregnant women.