A Cohort Study of the Intestinal Microbiota of Premature Infants

Premature infants are at risk for a variety of diseases, the investigators would like to learn more about why some premature babies are at higher risk and some are protected from these diseases. Scientists at UC Davis and other universities have developed new ways to measure the bacteria and a large number of small molecules in specimens of infant blood, urine, stomach fluid and poop and in mother's milk. These discoveries allow us to consider questions that were impossible to answer before these new techniques were developed. One such question is whether the bacteria in the poop of a premature baby can help us predict the baby's risk for developing infection or a common and serious disease of premature infants called necrotizing enterocolitis. A second question is whether the DNA of a premature baby (obtained from saliva with a q-tip) can predict higher risk for diseases of premature babies.