Tag: infant microbiome

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Early Colonization of Microbes by Mode of Delivery

Background

Microscopic organisms, microorganisms, and microbes for short, are all terms that encompass all organisms too small to see with the naked eye. Microbes, being as small as they are, pretty much keep the planet running. Some important functions of microbes on a planetary scale include breaking down pollutants, ensuring that the soil is fertile, and powering the Earth’s biogeochemical cycles (Falkowski et al 2008). We need all these external microbes to live, but we also need microbes in and on our bodies to live. You can view the human body as a planet and the microbes being the inhabitants. Just like the planet earth, the human body also has varying climates where certain species thrive. Microbial communities in the human body have their own community structure and function (Human Microbiome Project Consortium 2012). Continue reading “Early Colonization of Microbes by Mode of Delivery”

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Saving babies, the microbiome’s role in defeating necrotizing enterocolitis

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(Photo credit flickr user: hudsonthego)

Babies born too soon

Medicine is advancing faster and faster. Babies born at 23 weeks, only 3 weeks past the halfway point of a full term pregnancy, have a 17 % chance of survival, and if they are born just one week later their chances jump to 39% (preemies survival). While there is a greater chance of survival for these babies than ever before, another statistic is also growing, according to the World health organization the number of premature births has increased worldwide. Approximately 15 million babies are be born before 37-week gestation each year, and almost a million of them die as a result. While many of these deaths are tied to lack of medical care in unindustrialized countries where the premature birth rates are extremely high, there are still risk factors for those receiving even the best of care (WHO, 2015). The lungs, brain and digestive tract of premature infants are all underdeveloped, leading to severe and sometimes life long complications; one of these complications is necrotizing enterocolitis. Continue reading “Saving babies, the microbiome’s role in defeating necrotizing enterocolitis”