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05/03/2015

Newborn Deaths Could Be Reduced By Low-Cost Antiseptic

A new study has claimed the number of newborn deaths in developing countries could fall if a low-cost antiseptic is used to clean the cord.

The research, published in the Cochrane Library, discovered that when chlorhexidine was used on babies born outside of a hospital, it reduced the number of newborn babies who died or suffer from infections.

A third of deaths in newborn babies are caused by infections.

The researchers looked at data from 12 trials involving more than 87,000 newborns. Seven of the trials took place in South-East Asia, two in Africa, two in Europe and one South America.

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Of those trials, five were carried out in community settings, involving 72,030 newborns, and provided the highest quality evidence. Home births were included in these trials.

They showed that cleansing cords with chlorhexidine reduced infant deaths by 12%, compared to keeping cords dry, the research said.

In addition, using chlorhexidine also halved the number of newborn babies that suffered from omphalitis, which is a swelling of the cord stump commonly caused by bacterial infections.

Lead researcher Anju Sinha, who is based at the Indian Council of Medical Research in New Delhi, said: "The greatest benefits were seen in the South-East Asian studies. The results from African studies are less convincing, so we would like to see whether the results from ongoing trials in Zambia and Tanzania can substantiate this evidence."

(JP/IT)

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"A new study has claimed the number of newborn deaths in developing countries could fall if a low-cost antiseptic is used to clean the cord."