Infection in Babies

Fighting infectious diseases today is much easier than in the past. Proper hygiene and proper precautions, along with numerous vaccines and rapidly advancing medical technology, help prevent many infections. However, a newborn baby has limited ability to prevent and fight infectious diseases. Special care may be needed for babies who develop an infection before, during, or after birth.

Prevention is the key to fighting many infectious diseases. At any time of life, but especially during pregnancy and after the birth of a baby, part of preventing the spread of an infectious disease includes the following:

• receiving prenatal care from a qualified healthcare provider
• proper hand washing techniques
• taking certain precautions, depending on the disease
• following the nationally recommended immunization schedule for children and adults
• taking medication correctly

Even with proper prevention, sometimes a disease is unavoidable. Some reasons may be attributed to the following:

• evolution of drug-resistant strains of a disease
• changes in a person's environment
• increased travel
• inappropriate use of prescription drugs
• lack of attention to proper personal hygiene

Infections in babies require clinical care by a physician or other healthcare professional. Listed in the directory below is some additional information regarding infections, for which we have provided a brief overview.

If you cannot find the information in which you are interested, please visit the High-Risk Newborn Online Resources page in this Web site for an Internet/World Wide Web address that may contain additional information on that topic.

• Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

• Cytomegalovirus (CMV)

• Group B Streptococcus

• Sepsis

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