Chlorhexidine umbilical cord care can save newborn lives
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 - 04:00
in Health & Medicine
Cleansing a newborn's umbilical cord with chlorhexidine can reduce an infant's risk of infection and death during the first weeks of life by as much as 20 percent, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study, conducted in rural Bangladesh in partnership with ICDDR,B and a Bangladeshi NGO Shimantik and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Save the Children's Saving Newborn Lives program, is the latest in a series of studies showing that umbilical cord cleaning with chlorhexidine can save lives. The latest findings will be published online February 8 by The Lancet.