Neonatal conjunctivitis [a pilot study]

Neonatal conjunctivitis has not been well studied in Saudi Arabia. This pilot study has been performed on 51 newborns, born in King Abdulaziz University Hospital to find out the main cause of neonatal conjunctivitis in this hospital. Symptomatic neonatal conjunctivitis was present in 9.8% of infants and Staph. Aureus was the most common cause. Chlamydia trachomatis was the most frequent [21.6%] cause of asymptomatic neonatal conjunctivitis. None of the affected infants were Saudi. A multicentre study of a large number of Saudi's newborns with adequate follow up is necessary to determine the prevalence of this disease in Saudi Arabia