Abstract
The newborn infant with an infection may have become infected in utero (prepartum) or during delivery (intrapartum). In utero infection may be acquired by two routes. Firstly, by spread from the maternal blood stream via the placenta, causing widely disseminated, blood borne infection in the fetus, or occasionally via the fetal membranes, when pulmonary infection is common. Secondly, by ascending from the cervix into the amniotic fluid, thence involving the lung, and occasionally infecting the fetus via the placenta. The immunological defence of the fetus before birth depends almost entirely upon maternal IgG antibodies transferred across the placenta, although the fetus produces some IgM antibodies during infection (see chapter 1). Intrapartum infection occurs during passage of the fetus through the birth canal.
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© 1971 Batstone, Blair & Slater
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Batstone, G.F., Blair, A.W., Slater, J.M. (1971). Fetal Infection and the Effects of Maternal Disease. In: Batstone, G.F., Blair, A.W., Slater, J.M. (eds) A Handbook of Pre-Natal Paediatrics for Obstetricians and Pediatricians. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9694-9_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9694-9_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-011-9696-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-9694-9
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