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Is a foetus developing in a sterile environment?
Author(s) -
Wassenaar T.M.,
Panigrahi P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
letters in applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.698
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1472-765X
pISSN - 0266-8254
DOI - 10.1111/lam.12334
Subject(s) - microbiome , placenta , biology , pregnancy , bacteria , fetus , uterus , placenta diseases , microbiology and biotechnology , pathological , medicine , bioinformatics , pathology , genetics
Novel findings in microbiology question the long‐standing paradigm that a healthy pregnancy implies a sterile uterus. It now seems that the placenta is frequently colonized with bacteria, and a placental microbiome has been identified. Recent literature findings are summarized here, and an attempt is made to separate pathological bacterial presence from a naturally occurring microbiome.