Bacteriuria and Babies Revisited

Abstract

Few issues in infectious disease have produced as much controversy as Kass' observation two decades ago that bacteriuria during pregnancy was associated with low birth weight and increased perinatal morbidity.¹ There are several likely reasons for this controversy. First of all, some other studies of bacteriuria during pregnancy did not show an effect on birth weight. In most of these studies, however, the criteria for bacteriuria were not optimal, and the groups were too small to reflect statistically significant differences in the occurrence of two relatively uncommon conditions. Many carefully designed investigations did confirm Kass' observation.² Another possible explanation for . . .