Conjunctivities of newborns

Abstract

The article is focused on the peculiarities of the clinical course of separate forms of neonatal conjunctivitis, depending on the etiological factor. It was found that more often the disease refers to nosocomial eye infection and bacterial nature. We performed the bacteriological analysis of the contents of the conjunctival cavity of 50 newborn patients being treated in the neonatal department. Our analysis indicated the leading role of gram-positive bacteria Staph. epidermidis (59.7%) and Staph. aureus (21.7%) in the development of the inflammatory process. The share of other types of pathogens, including gram-negative minor and various pathogens, is from 0.54% to 3.2%. The cause of nosocomial infection is considered to be the pathogen that circulates in the department and acquires the features of a hospital strain. These are consistent with the results of similar studies conducted by both domestic and foreign clinicians, which are also presented in the article. Particular attention is paid to the causative agents of intrauterine infections that are dangerous for the anterior section: gonococcus, chlamydia, herpes simplex, etc. These agents often cause serious diseases in newborns (gonoblenorrhea, ophthalmic chlamydiosis, and ophthalmic herpes), in which the cornea and vision are often affected. The article highlights the measures of primary prevention of intrapartum infection of the ocular surface in newborns, adopted in Russia. The paper presents modern approaches to selecting drugs for local antibacterial therapy of neonatal conjunctivitis, considering age restrictions for their use. Methods of laboratory diagnostics and their validity for the etiology of conjunctivitis have been described in detail. For example, the bacteriological method (inoculations in various culture media) is considered a reference (specificity 100%). The culture medium can be used to isolate bacteria, chlamydia, and mycoplasma, which allows getting clear results even with a minimal amount of microflora