Control of Perinatal Infection by Traditional Preventive Measures

A 9-year review of nosocomial infections occurring in the department of obstetrics and gynecology of a major teaching hospital demonstrated the dramatic effect of strict asepsis and isolation on postoperative infection rates. With rigidly enforced preventive measures and without the use of prophylactic antibiotics, the rates of wound infection and endometritis and the relative prevalence of gram-negative aerobic organisms cultured from these infections could be reduced substantially. The role of anaerobes in these infections was not established, since adequate techniques for the accurate diagnosis of anaerobic infection were not available at the time of this study. The relative importance of the numerous infection-control measures used is unclear. It is apparent, however, that by implementing all traditional methods of asepsis, virtually all types of nosocomial infection could be controlled, and the increased prevalence of gram-negative infections observed during the past decades could be reversed.