The clinical study involves a French network of 20 neonatology centres created as part of the EPIFLORE project. Investigators propose including all premature babies with confirmed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) diagnosis (Bell stage II or III) paired with a control group of healthy premature babies, over a 2-year period. The clinical data will be entered at inclusion until departure from the department, and the ASQ (Ages and Stages Questionnaires) will be collected after 24 months. Samples from NEC cases and from the control group will be submitted for microbiological testing by culture and pyrosequencing. This will enable the main aerobic micro-organisms in the dominant and subdominant intestinal microbiota to be isolated. This case-control study will be used to compile a collection of clinical and microbiological data, in order to confirm the role of bacteria in the pathophysiology of NEC, and to confirm the involvement of bacteria from the Clostridium genus in particular.
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The primary endpoint is the difference in prevalence of colonisation by bacteria from the Clostridium genus between the two study groups, CASE and CONTROL.
Timeframe: Inclusion until departure from hospital, an average of three months