title: Intestinal colonization among very low birth weight infants in first week of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study intestinal colonization patterns in very low birth weight infants in the first week of life in a neonatal intensive care unit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Meconium/stool specimens were obtained on days 1, 3, 5 and 7 from 38 very low-birth-weight infants in a level III neonatal intensive care unit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On day 1, 45% had sterile guts, and by day 3, all infants were colonized. E. coli, K. pneumoniae and Enterococcus fecalis were predominant organisms. Lactobacilli was found in one isolate and Bifidobacteria was not detected during the study period. There was an association between formula feeding and E. coli colonization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Very low birth weight infants admitted in neonatal intensive care units have abnormal intestinal colonization patterns.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics and *Medical Microbiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. Correspondence to: Dr Sourabh Dutta, Additional Professor, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, PGIMER, Chandigarh 160 012, India. sourabhdutta@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: Sourabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.forename: Meenakshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ganesh
authors.forename: Pallab
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Narang
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D008470:Meconium / Q000382:microbiology*; D064307:Microbiota; D011446:Prospective Studies