The Nation

Doctors could save the lives of an estimated 1,100 newborns each year and prevent brain damage in others by giving an antibiotic to expectant women infected with a common bacteria, researchers said in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. A new study found that ampicillin administered to infected women during childbirth significantly reduced the chances of their babies' contracting group B streptococci disease, which can lead to permanent brain damage and sometimes death.