Abstract
AIMS: To compare the aerobic and anaerobic intestinal microflora of newborn infants with and without antibiotic treatment and also to describe any relationships between presence of anaerobic bacteria and colonization by potentially pathogenic gramnegative aerobic bacteria.
METHODS: Fresh faecal specimens were obtained from 61 infants in Addis Abeba and 21 infants in Stockholm. All infants were breastfed. The specimens were frozen for 0-20 days, thawed and transported in anaerobic athmosphere to the laboratory in Stockholm.
RESULTS: In Stockholm, the dominating aerobe was S.epidermidis: and the dominating anaerobe was Bacteriodes fragilis. Bifidobacteria were only rarely isolated. In Addis Abeba E.coli and lactobacilli dominated. Antibiotic treatment produced no consistent change of the intestinal microflora of Addis Abeba infants, as opposed to the dramatic impact seen in Sweden. There was an inverse relationship between colonization by potentially pathogenic Gramnegative aerobic bacteria and occurrence of bifidobacteria but not of lactobacilli.
CONCLUSIONS: The intestinal flora of breastfed newborn infants in Stockholm differs from what has previously been reported, whereas in Addis Abeba it is more “classical”. Bifidobacteria, but not lactobacilli, might produce some resistance to colonization by Gramnegative bacteria from the hospital environment.
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Bennet, R., Eriksson, M., Nord, C. et al. INTESTINAL MICROFLORA OF NEWBORN INFANTS IN ADDIS; ABEBA AND STOCKHOLM. Pediatr Res 26, 276 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198909000-00079
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198909000-00079
