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American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 138, No. 5: 326-332
Copyright © 1993 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
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The Bacterial Etiology of Conjunctivitis in Early Infancy
1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington Seattle, WA
2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Washington Seattle, WA
3Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Washington Seattle, WA
4Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington Seattle, WA
The authors conducted this study to determine the etiologic agents of conjunctivitis in early infancy. From 1985 to 1990, 630 infants enrolled in a randomized, controlled, double-masked study of eye prophylaxis were observed for 60 days after delivery for signs of conjunctivitis. The following isolates were categorized as pathogens: Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria cinerea, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Chlamydia trachomatis. Using conditional logistic regression for analysis of 97 infant pairs, the authors identified isolates categorized as pathogens almost exclusively among cases (odds ratio (OR) = 18.0, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 2.3–128). Among the microorganisms which have not usually been regarded as pathogens in the etiology of infant conjunctivitis, Streptococcus mitis was the only microorganism associated with an increased risk of conjunctivitis (OR = 5.3, 95% Cl 1.8–15.0). The findings concerning the species of bacteria most often associated with conjunctivitis, as well as the finding that method of delivery is unimportant, suggest that bacteria were transmitted to the infants' eyes after birth and not from the birth canal. Am J Epidemiol 1993; 138:326–32.
conjunctivitis; eye infections; infant; microbiology
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