Mother vaginitis, children may have pus meningitis

Infants may develop meningococcal disease if, during pregnancy, the mother suffers from genital urinary tract infections such as urinary tract infections, vaginitis, vulva . without treatment.

Recently, at the Central Obstetrics Hospital there are many newborn babies infected with pus meningitis. Most are in May with about 30 infected children and 1 child dying. This dangerous disease has never had a preventive vaccine. According to Dr. Le Thi Hoang Yen, Deputy Head of the Neonatal Department of Tu Du Hospital, HCM City, newborns can develop meningitis from two causes: due to maternal transmission or infection from the surrounding environment, in which sterile conditions in the hospital are the leading cause.

Newborns are being treated at the intensive neonatal department of Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital. (Photo: ML)

"Infants will develop septicemia before switching to purulent meningitis , " said Dr. Hoang Yen.

The mother can infect children if during pregnancy there are genital urinary tract infections. In fact, this is the kind of disease that women are most common but are not interested in treating to the next place. In addition, the mother's infection with TORCH viruses that cause fetal infections is also the cause of postpartum meningitis.TORCH stands for virus names: Toxoplasma, syphilis, gonorrhea, HIV, tuberculosis, rubella, Cytomegalovirus, Herpes virus .

Infants are also at risk of environmental infection from meningitis, namely relatives and hospitals. Adults with sore throats who are exposed to children, who carry babies who are not hygienically clean . can also lead to this disease.

Dr. Hoang Yen said, overloaded hospital environment, crowded, poor sterile hygiene is the ideal condition for newborns to have septicemia, which in turn leads to pus meningitis. In a hospital, just having a sick child is not isolated in time, meningitis will spread very quickly and form a fluid.

Infants with meningitis if detected early, treated well with antibiotics often leave no sequelae behind . In the opposite case, children may be deaf, paralyzed, blind, unaware, receptive .

Because there is no vaccine, only meningitis can be prevented by the consciousness of adults. Medical staff need costumes in accordance with standards, hand washing techniques. At obstetric hospitals, family members should be minimized."People who are sick, even if they are just ordinary colds, should not be exposed to babies because the young mucosa is extremely fragile and easy to infect , " Dr. Hoang Yen warned.

In addition, pregnant women need to be examined properly and sufficiently according to the doctor's request to detect and treat acquired diseases in pregnancy, limiting to the minimum the possibility of spreading the disease to the mother.

Clinical signs show that an infant with signs of septicemia and pus meningitis is: Suddenly lethargic, poor feeding, sucking, fever or hypothermia, excessive diarrhea and vomiting . When the above signs appear, it is necessary to take the child to the hospital with a neonatal department for early examination.

My Lan