Diseases

Neonatal Conjunctivitis

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Neonatal conjunctivitis, also known as ophthalmia neonatorum, is a form of conjunctivitis and a type ofneonatal infection contracted by newborns during delivery. The baby's eyes are contaminated during passage through the birth canal from a mother infected with either neisseria gonorrhoeae or chlamydia trachomatis.

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms of inclusion conjunctivitis include redness of theeye(s), swelling of the eyelids, and discharge of pus. Symptoms are likely to appear 5 to 12 days after birth. About half of newborns with chlamydial conjunctivitis also have the infection in other parts of their bodies.

CAUSES

The epidemiology of neonatal conjunctivitis changed when silver nitrate solution was introduced in the 1800s to preventgonococcal ophthalmia. Chlamydia is The most common infectious agent that causes ophthalmia neonatorum in the united states, where 2%-40% of neonatal conjunctivitis cases are caused by chlamydia.