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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Jan 16.
Published in final edited form as: Lancet. 2010 Mar 9;375(9724):1482–1490. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61712-8

Table 2.

Treatment and research priorities to reduce infection-related stillbirth

Treatment Priorities
Maternal Condition Intervention/prevention
Strategy		 Comment
Syphilis Syphilis screening and treatment Intervention is efficacious; effective scale up strategies needed - especially in areas of high prevalence
Malaria Malaria chemoprophylaxis - directed or intermittentInsecticide treated bed nets Neither strategy specifically tested when targeted at stillbirth, but these strategies effective against other malarial related pregnancy outcomes
Measles, mumps, rubella, polio, varicella, influenza Maternal vaccination Vaccination is effective in preventing maternal disease and likely will prevent stillbirths associated with maternal infection in pregnancy; the contribution of these maternal infections to stillbirth in developing countries is unknown.
Worms Deworming Deworming has been shown to be associated with a decrease in stillbirths but a cause and effect relationship is not proven and contribution to burden of stillbirth is unknown.
Research Priorities
Area of research Research direction Comment
Various maternal infections Determine burden of infectious causes of stillbirth in developing countries using molecular biological techniques Proportions of stillbirths in developing countries associated with Lyme disease, relapsing fever, chagas disease, parvovirus, enterovirus, and many other maternal infections are unknown.
Chorioamnionitis Develop effective prevention and treatment strategies Since this is likely the most common cause of stillbirth worldwide, research aimed at reducing this infection is crucial.
Viral Infections Develop vaccines for viral causes of stillbirth including parvovirus, Coxsackie A and B, CMV and test efficacy in preventing stillbirth Eliminating these infections during pregnancy should reduce stillbirths and other adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Various bacterial infections Clean delivery practices; maternal vaginal antisepsis (e.g., chlorhexidine); nutrition supplementation, etc These strategies should be tested to determine their impact on reducing stillbirth.