ANEMIA IN A NEW-BORN INFANT

Abstract

The older the infant, the more numerous are the factors that operate to produce an improverishment of the blood. In an infant, the discoverable causes of this condition may be listed as dietetic and constitutional conditions, infections with pyogenic organisms, tuberculosis, syphilis, diphtheria or malaria. The new-born infant, however, offers possibly only traumatic and spontaneous hemorrhages, including the hemorrhagic disease of the new-born, hemolytic jaundice and the rarer forms of familial icterus. Active congenital syphilis may be included in this list. The mother may be a factor in this condition if suffering from an acute illness, from tuberculosis or from syphilis while pregnant. Mothers of advanced age and weak constitution, or those who have had repeated pregnancies at short intervals with abortions and hemorrhages, might influence the child's condition. Donnally¹and Ecklin²have each reported a case of anemia in a new-born infant, the first observations of which