MANAGEMENT OF ASYMPTOMATIC TERM NEONATES WHOSE MOTHERS RECEIVED INTRAPARTUM ANTIBIOTICS .1. RATIONALE FOR INTRAPARTUM ANTIBIOTIC-THERAPY

The evaluation of the potentially septic newborn is often a source of frustration for practitioners, In the past, it has often been standard practice to evaluate and treat empirically all neonates whose mothers received antibiotics during labor, regardless of whether the infant h ad any signs or symptoms suggestive of infection. With the advent of r ecommendations for intrapartum antibiotic therapy to prevent early-ons et neonatal group B streptococcal infections, this strategy is no long er practicable because too many infants would thus be evaluated and tr eated needlessly. This two-part review addresses the issues involved i n managing asymptomatic newborns whose mothers received intrapartum an tibiotics, This first part reviews the rationale behind strategies for preventing intrapartum transmission of bacterial infection. The admin istration of intravenous antibiotics to laboring mothers appears to re duce the incidence of group B streptococcal infections in neonates, Ad ditionally, intrapartum antibiotic therapy for maternal chorioamnionit is may inhibit transmission of infection to the infant. Part 2-to be p ublished separately-will address the evaluation and management of the newborn.