Puerperal fever

Childbirth fever – an infectious disease of the puerperal with periodic entry of viruses into the blood from the primary focus of infection – the uterus and severe intoxication (the so-called postpartum sepsis); the formation of purulent foci in various organs is likely.

Causes of puerperal fever

Childbirth fever develops against the background of some chronic infectious disease. The main causative agents of puerperal fever are streptococcus, staphylococcus, meningococcus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and coli bacteria.

Childbirth fever begins in a day or two after childbirth – when the infection that has occupied the weakened female body develops, gains strength and proceeds to action.

The main symptoms of puerperal fever

The same as other acute infectious diseases: severe pain, especially in the lower abdomen, malaise, chills, general redness, high fever, bloody-purulent discharge.

Treatment

You need to see a doctor. In the early stages, the disease is easily treatable with medication.

Prevention of puerperal fever

Prevention plays the most important role in relation to puerperal fever; it consists in the correct antiseptic care of the woman in labor and the puerperal. The cleanliness of hands and tools is of the greatest importance; the most reliable is 5-minute washing with warm water, soap and a brush, then immersion in 90 ° alcohol and, finally, washing with a sublimate solution; tools are boiled down, best of all, in a 1% soda solution. A midwife who comes into contact with a sick puerperal is not obliged to take over the conduct of childbirth or the care of a healthy puerperal soon after; rapid decontamination is available only to a doctor, who, however, can also be recommended daily abstinence after treatment of suspicious cases.