A Correlative Immunologic, Microbiologic and Clinical Approach to the Diagnosis of Acute and Chronic Infections in Newborn Infants

Abstract

THE neonatal diagnoses of infections acquired in utero, natally and postnatally are inherently difficult. Asymptomatic or clinically indistinguishable infections in the pregnant mother can produce conceptal involvements, and, likewise, the resultant neonatal infections may be clinically inapparent.^{1 , 2} In fact, after congenital rubella, detection of the consequences of fetal damage can be delayed as late as eleven years after delivery in spite of the recognition of maternal illness.³ Even fulminant forms of perinatal infection are often accompanied by indistinctive findings. Clearly, methods adjunctive to clinical means are needed for early detection of infectious diseases in neonates.Normally in pregnancy, the . . .