After the death of a premature infant from rotavirus-associated necrotizing enterocolitis, we instituted prospective surveillance for this disease in our neonatal intensive care unit. During the 4-month study period an additional six cases of necrotizing enterocolitis and eight cases of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis occurred. Rotavirus infection was documented in 11 of these 15 symptomatic infants, in comparison with only eight rotavirus infections in 147 asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic babies (P less than 0.0001). Stools from 110 nursery personnel tested during the outbreak did not contain rotavirus. However, 12 of 59 staff members had serum IgM antibody against rotavirus, suggesting recent infection. In a case-control study we compared babies with severe gastrointestinal illness with a control group randomly selected from asymptomatic babies in the nursery during the time of the outbreak. Univariate analysis found six categorical variables and nine continuous variables that were significantly associated with disease. Multivariate logistic regression analysis, however, found only birth weight (P less than 0.0001), rotavirus infection (P less than 0.0001), and age at time of first nonwater feeding (P less than 0.02) to be associated with gastrointestinal illness. This study provides further evidence for the role of infection in some cases of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis and hemorrhagic gastroenteritis.

Objective-To determine the contribution of infants born at the threshold of viability (defined as <750 g birth weight) and the role of regionalization of perinatal care on the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) in Colorado. Result-The overall unadjusted NMR of the two time periods was 4.3 and 4.4 per 1000 live births, respectively (P=0.42). The contribution of infants with birth weights <750 g to the overall NMR increased from 45.0 to 54.5% (P<0.01). The odds of death for infants <750 g increased between time periods (Odd ratio 1.3, 95% Confidence interval 1.11, 1.61). However, NMR decreased between time periods for all birth weight categories, until infants <600 g. With respect to regionalization, the number of infants <750 g born in a level III care center increased slightly between the two time periods (69.6 versus 73.3%; P=0.04); however, adjusted analysis showed no difference in the practice of regionalization between time periods. Regardless of time period, infants who weighed <750 g born in a level III center had 60% lower mortality risk when compared to <750 g infants born in a non-level III center (P<0.01; 95% CI 0.30, 0.52).Conclusion-Despite advances in neonatal medicine, the overall NMR in the state of Colorado remained unchanged between the time periods of 1991 to 1996 and 1997 to 2003. Infants at the threshold of viability continue to have a large impact on the Colorado NMR, making up a larger proportion of overall neonatal deaths. While the results demonstrate that the risk of mortality is significantly reduced for <750 g infants born in a level III center, the practice of regionalization has not changed between the two time periods. Improved efforts to standardize the referral practices to ensure delivery of <750 g infants in level III centers could potentially reduce the impact of these infants on the NMR. While the overall NMR in Colorado has not changed between the two time periods, the NMR for infants >600 g has significantly decreased, suggesting that the

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OBJECTIVE:To determine the contribution of infants born at the threshold of viability (Ͻ750 gm) on neonatal mortality in Colorado. STUDY DESIGN:For the period of January 1991 to December 1996, all Colorado live births who expired were evaluated for gestational age, birth weight, gender, hospital level of care, age at time of death, delivery room resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, medical and surgical complications, and serious malformations. RESULTS:Although infants weighing Ͻ750 gm represent only 0.31% of all live births, they account for 46.3% of deaths. While those infants weighing Ͻ500 gm and with a gestation of Ͻ24 weeks almost always died (94.7%), the majority born in the 500-to 745-gm category (55.8%) survived. The vast majority (88.5%) of deaths occurred on the first day of life. A total of 38.4% of births in which the infant weighed Ͻ750 gm occurred outside bona fide regional perinatal centers. CONCLUSION:Future attempts to reduce the Colorado neonatal mortality rate would best focus on the 500-to 750-gm weight group through the re-regionalization of high-risk perinatal care.

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