Bacteriological findings in perinatal pneumonia

Abstract

Culture media were inoculated with material obtained from the lungs of 542 infants among a consecutive series of 1,000 perinatal necropsies, including 421 stillbirths and 579 livebirths, performed during 1963-72. Bias was exercised for taking swabs from infants who were liveborn and survived for some days.Positive cultures were obtained in 266 infants (49%) including, alone or in combination, Klebsiella species in 70 (26%), Escherichia coli in 67 (25%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 58 (21 %), Alcaligenes faecalis in 42 (16%), other Gram-negative bacillus species in 40 (15%) and Gram-positive coccus species in 59 (22%).Pulmonary inflammation was diagnosed microscopically in 157 infants including 74 with cultures positive for Gram-negative bacilli. Klebsiella sp. occurred alone in 18 and combined with other bacteria in 11, E. coli alone in 12 and combined in 13, Ps. aeruginosa alone in 9 and combined in 7 and A. faecalis alone in 4 and combined in 3. The ages of the infants were: stillborn (5), 0-24 hours (17)...