ABSTRACT
The skin is a multipurpose protective barrier for the developing neonate. Among the principal functions served by this barrier is prevention of infection. The dynamic balance between cutaneous colonization and infection is incompletely understood, but involves interplay between mechanical, biochemical, physiological, and immunological properties of the skin and characteristics of the microorganism such as ability to attach, survive, and replicate in the local environment and to express virulence factors necessary for causing infection (Table 1) (1). In the neonatal period, this balance of factors assumes particular importance, as is highlighted by the increased susceptibility of preterm very low birth weight (VLBW) infants to invasive infections due to organisms of typically low pathogenicity, through a cutaneous portal of entry (2,3).
