[The premature infant confronting community-acquired infections. Which prophylaxis?]

Preterm infants are at high risk of severe community acquired infections. In particular viral respiratory infections, mainly respiratory syncitial virus infections (RVS), are responsible for a high incidence of rehospitalizations of preterm infants during their 2 first years of life. Prevention relies upon 1/the application of an immunization program identical to the program applied to normal term infants, a cardiorespiratory monitoring during 48-72 hours following immunization being recommended in those infants who carry a risk of recurrent apnea; 2/general measures with a demonstrated protective effect, i.e., breast feeding, elimination of smoking at home, and when possible limitation of contacts with infant and children communities. Immunoprophylaxis against RVS infections has been shown to be effective in reducing the severity of RVS infections in preterm infants but is presently not available in European countries.