Colonizations and infections were rolled back successfully in a multi-step effort that required an interdisciplinary approach.

We report three patients with early neonatal infections. All patients had respiratory tract involvement with increased inflammation markers. Chryseobacterium gleum was cultured from the stomach content aspirated on arrival at the Neonatal intensive Care Unit and it was identified with the help of a Microflex™ MALDI Biotyper mass spectrometer (Bruker-Daltonik, Fremont, CA). Recovery could be achieved with ciprofloxacin treatment. We consider our cases a possible new clinical presentation of a rare human pathogen.

International guidelines in neonatal wound care practice are not available, and further research concerns are clearly needed. Dressings and antiseptic agents should be chosen with great care for application to neonates, with particular attention to the prevention of adverse events in this sensitive population. Team work among dermatologists, neonatologists and nurses is crucial for the successful treatment of neonates.

The immaturity and vulnerability of the skin and epidermal barrier function and the frequent iatrogenic complications following diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are often associated with skin manifestations in infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The aim of the current study was to investigate dermatologic disorders in neonates in our NICU. A prospective cohort study was conducted in the NICU at the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Szeged between January 2012 and January 2013. All full- and preterm infants hospitalized in the NICU underwent whole-body skin examinations and all dermatologic disorders and treatment modalities were recorded. Eighty-nine dermatologic conditions were detected in 64 of the 211 neonates admitted to the NICU. A wide variety of clinical symptoms accompanied these conditions in these preterm and severely ill full-term infants. A considerable proportion of the disorders that were seen resulted from the immaturity of the skin and various iatrogenic complications. Dermatologic disorders are frequent in neonates requiring intensive care. Prevention, early detection, and optimal treatment of these disorders with modern, standardized skin care management strategies can result in significant improvements in barrier function and in the integrity of the skin, increasing the overall efficacy of neonatal intensive care.

Oxidative stress is known to play an important role in the pathogenesis of certain severe illnesses in preterm infants. The enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) participates in cytoprotection against oxygen radical injury. We have previously described the role of HO-1 in physiologic adaptation by demonstrating the induction of HO-1 in healthy mature neonates and asymptomatic preterm infants. Our current aim was to investigate the HO-1 expression in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). We collected venous blood samples from 28 preterm infants with RDS on the 1st, 3rd and 5th days after birth. The HO-1 mRNA expression was determined by means of a competitive reverse transcriptase PCR technique, and a quantitative blood count was performed on the residual blood sample. A significant increase in HO-1 expression was found in the preterm infants with RDS as compared with both the healthy mature and the asymptomatic premature groups. The elevation was approximately eight-fold. The platelet count displayed a significant negative association with the HO-1 expression, and in the RDS prematures with thrombocytopenia the HO-1 induction was significantly greater than in those with a normal platelet count. In conclusion, the RDS of prematures is accompanied by an elevated HO-1 expression during the first 5 days of life, consistent with the inflammatory and oxidative characteristics of the disease.