Maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy may modulate fetal immune system development and infant susceptibility to infections. Vitamin D deficiency is common during pregnancy, particularly among African American (AA) women. Our objective was to compare maternal vitamin D status (plasma 25(OH)D concentration) during pregnancy and first-year infections in the offspring of African American (AA) ...

BACKGROUND Maternal sepsis is the underlying cause of 11% of all maternal deaths and a significant contributor to many deaths attributed to other underlying conditions. The effective prevention, early identification and adequate management of maternal and neonatal infections and sepsis can contribute to reducing the burden of infection as an underlying and contributing cause of morbidity and mo...

The consequences of viral infection during pregnancy include impact on fetal and maternal immune responses and on fetal development. Transplacental infection in cattle with noncytopathic bovine viral diarrhea virus (ncpBVDV) during early gestation results in persistently infected (PI) fetuses with life-long viremia and susceptibility to infections. Infection of the fetus during the third trimes...

The role of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in HBV intrauterine infection is not fully defined. Particularly the origin of PBMCs in HBV-infected neonates remains to be addressed. We carried out a population-based nested case-control study by enrolling 312 HBsAg-positive mothers and their babies. PBMC HBV DNA as well as serum HBsAg and HBV DNA was tested in cohort entry samples. Total...

BACKGROUND Morbidity and mortality are higher among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) exposed but uninfected (HEU) infants than unexposed infants, particularly if the mother had a low CD4 count. We investigated the possible association between maternal immune depression during pregnancy and the risk of infection in HEU infants in the national French Perinatal Cohort (EPF). METHODS All neonat...

Dengue is a vector transmitted viral infection; tropical and subtropical countries see outbreaks of dengue each year. There is a paucity of literature on effects of dengue infection on pregnancy outcome and this prompted us to undertake a study for better understanding of pregnancy implications with dengue infection. Pregnant women admitted during the seasonal outbreak of dengue between Septemb...

BACKGROUND Fetal infection by human parvovirus B19 is a common cause of fetal anemia, nonimmune hydrops fetalis, and spontaneous abortion and can result in fetal death. Recent improvements in diagnosing parvovirus infections and the availability of intrauterine transfusion have reduced the overall rate of fetal loss after maternal exposure. METHODS We report two cases of maternal parvovirus i...

OBJECTIVES The goal of our study was to assess the effect of water birth on obstetrical outcome, the maternal and neonatal infection rate in a selected low risk collective. STUDY DESIGN In this prospective observational study (1998-2002) 513 women, wished to have a water birth. The study was approved by the local ethical committee, informed consent was obtained. According to the course of del...

Disseminated infection with Cryptococcus neoformans was observed in a newborn infant who presented fever and respiratory symptoms since the 52 day of life. The mother was infected by human immunodeficiency virus and presented pulmonary and meningeal cryptococcal infection. This is a rare case of cryptococcal infection with probable maternal-fetal transmission. Key-words: Cryptococcus neoformans...

Listeria monocytogenes causes foodborne outbreaks that lead to infection in human and other mammalian fetuses. To elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in transplacental transmission, we characterized placental-fetal infection in pregnant guinea pigs inoculated with wild-type (wt) or mutant L. monocytogenes strains. The wt strain increased in number in the placenta by >1000-f...