[The effect of the duration of the dry period and of the use of antibiotics on the development of congenital infection in the newborn infant during premature rupture of the fetal membranes].

A retrospective study including 41 patients with preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) was carried out to investigate the influence of some factors (interval between PPROM and delivery, antibiotic administration) on the development of congenital infections of the newborn. When the PPROM--delivery interval exceeds 168 hours the infection rate is very high. The latter is lower when cephalosporin antibiotics instead of ampicillin are administered to the pregnant patient with PPROM.