Infection of the fetus and the newborn: prevention, treatment and related handicap.

Congenital infection is uncommon and the cause of only a small proportion of handicap seen in children but some infections may be preventable or even treatable. As an example, the congenital rubella syndrome first described in the 1940s is preventable by use of the vaccine but cases still occur. It is hoped that with the introduction of the measles, mumps, rubella immunization for young children, rubella will become as rare in the UK as it is in the USA. Cytomegalovirus is now a more common cause of handicap than rubella but no vaccine has been developed. Although antiviral drugs are available for herpes simplex virus and vaccinia, infection mortality in the newborn is high, even following the use of these agents; many HSV infections in the newborn arise following primary and asymptomatic maternal infections so that treatment may start late in the course of the illness. The obstetrician needs to understand the natural history as well as possible investigations available for congenital infections. There may be warning signs which require action, such as herpetic lesions in the genital tract of the mother. Less specific abnormalities during pregnancy, such as intra-uterine growth retardation and spontaneous onset of preterm labour, may point to congenital infection. This chapter describes both antenatal and postnatal management of the major congenital infections. We have included recent research data that should influence clinical practice; studies on HSV which suggest that, for women with a history of recurrent infection, routine viral culture of the genital tract at the end of pregnancy is unnecessary; reports from both the USA and the UK that rubella immunization performed inadvertently during early pregnancy has not resulted in the congenital rubella syndrome. The chapter would not have been complete without a discussion of human immunodeficiency virus, of concern to the obstetrician and midwife. There is still much to be learned about the natural history of this infection in both the mother and infant.