Anoint Them with Oil: Cheap-and-easy treatment cuts infection rates in premature infants
In developing countries, babies that arrive prematurely with low birthweights have mortality rates that exceed 50 percent. Infections are to blame for many of these deaths. A new study suggests that one way to curb infections and save babies’ lives is as close as the grocery store.
Unlike full-term babies, premature infants have skin that isn’t fully developed. It also lacks vernix, a creamy, white film with a variety of protective properties, including antibacterial activity. “We thought [their skin] may not function well to guard against pathogens entering the body,” says Gary Darmstadt of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.