Penicillin Prophylaxis against Neonatal Streptococcal Infections

To the Editor: The report by Siegel et al. in the October 2 issue clearly shows that a single injection of penicillin given in the delivery room can decrease the incidence of postnatally acquired earlyonset Group B streptococcal infection. However, as the authors point out in their discussion of the one infant who had evidence of meningitis before penicillin was administered, penicillin will obviously not prevent infections that are already established at the time of birth. The issue is how many cases of early-onset Group B streptococcal disease are late intrauterine infections present at birth and thus not preventable by.