Paolo Manzoni, Ilaria Stolfi, Lorenza Pugni, Lidia Decembrino, Cristiana Magnani, Gennaro Vetrano, Elisabetta Tridapalli, Giuseppina Corona, Chiara Giovannozzi, Daniele Farina, Riccardo Arisio, Franco Merletti, Milena Maule, Fabio Mosca, Roberto Pedicino, Mauro Stronati, Michael Mostert, Giovanna Gomirato
BACKGROUND: Invasive candida infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in preterm infants. We performed a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of fluconazole for the prevention of fungal colonization and infection in very-low-birth-weight neonates. METHODS: During a 15-month period, all neonates weighing less than 1500 g at birth from eight tertiary Italian neonatal intensive care units (322 infants) were randomly assigned to receive either fluconazole (at a dose of either 6 mg or 3 mg per kilogram of body weight) or placebo from birth until day 30 of life (day 45 for neonates weighing <1000 g at birth)...
June 14, 2007: New England Journal of Medicine