Use of a Nasal Antibiotic Cream during a Nursery Outbreak of Staphylococcal Disease

Abstract

WITHIN the past ten years numerous reports of outbreaks of staphylococcal disease among newborn infants in hospitals have appeared. The purpose of this paper is to note the possible usefulness of a nasal antibiotic ointment (neomycin and gramicidin) in the termination of a nursery epidemic of staphylococcal infection. With the increased awareness of hospital-acquired staphylococcal infection in the newborn infant it has been noted that not all nursery epidemics are readily apparent to the hospital authorities. With the variable and often prolonged incubation period in the newborn infant many staphylococcal skin lesions first appear after discharge from the hospital. Thus, . . .