Shaw AG, Cornwell E, Sim K, et al. - In the present study, the researchers sought to examine the Clostridium perfringens carrier status of premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit, factors that influence this status and the toxic potential of the strains. C. perfringens has been isolated by culture from faecal samples from 333 infants and their toxin gene profiles analyzed by PCR. Data reported that 29.4% of infants were colonized with C. perfringens before leaving the hospital. The probability of carriage was inversely associated with three factors: increased duration of maternal milk feeds, CPAP oxygen treatment and antibiotic treatment. According to findings, nearly a third of preterm infants are colonised 3 weeks following birth with toxin gene-carrying C. perfringens. Increased maternal breast milk, oxygen, and antibiotic treatment create an environment in the gut hostile to growth of C. perfringens, which was speculated in this analysis. Whilst potentially toxigenic C. perfringens isolates were frequent, necrotizing enterocolitis was not associated with any type of toxin.