We studied the incidence of umbilical venous catheterization (UVC)-related infection and pathogens in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in China. Patients were grouped into <2000-g UVC or <2000-g non-UVC groups or ≥2001-g UVC or ≥2001-g non-UVC groups. Blood culture and umbilical root skin swab culture were taken following UVC insertion and extraction. UVCs were removed after 7 days and cultures of UVC tips were performed then. A total of 516 patients were enrolled. The incidence of UVC-related septicemia was 9.5%. The incidence of UVC-related septicemia per 1000 UVC days was 13.6. No significant difference was noted between <2000-g UVC and <2000-g non-UVC groups and between ≥2001-g UVC group and ≥2001-g non-UVC groups, in the number of positive blood cultures and skin cultures, the percentage of catheter-related septicemia, the incidence of catheter-related septicemia per 1000 catheter days, and the increase in the number of positive cultures between two skin cultures following UVC insertion and extraction. The predominant pathogen in all cultures was gram-positive pathogens. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was the most frequently noted pathogen. UVC did not increase the incidence of catheter-related infection in the NICU. It is necessary to consider local pathogen spectrum when choosing antibiotic therapy before specific culture results become available.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the factors associated with parental burden among parents of children with food allergies (FA) in China.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingThe participants were recruited through the internet and one child health centre of a tertiary hospital in Changsha, China.ParticipantsA total of 346 parents of children with FA were recruited using a convenience sampling method. After excluding the invalid questionnaires, 330 questionnaires were included for the analysis.Outcome measuresThe data of general and disease-specific information of children with FA and their parents, as well as parental burden, social support and coping style of parents, were collected using a self-developed questionnaire and standard measurement tools with good psychometric properties. Univariate analysis and multivariate stepwise regression analysis were used to analyse the data.ResultsFinancial affordability regarding their children’s FA and parents’ social support were key protective factors against parental burden (β=−0.224, p<0.001 and β=−0.226, p<0.001, respectively). This study also found that parents’ working conditions, the number of highly suspected food allergens, the number of children’s FA-affected systems and whether children took amino acid milk powder were the factors associated with parental burden.ConclusionsHealth professionals should pay more attention to parents who are not at work and whose children have more highly suspected food allergens and more FA-affected systems because these parents often have a higher parental burden. Furthermore, it is important to improve financial support for children’s FA and social support for parents of children with FA to decrease their parental burden.