Neonatal Sepsis: Clinical Considerations

Abstract

Unspecific symptoms and rapid development of sepsis up to septic shock from systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) are well-known, important issues in neonatology. A common cause is the infection by Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus [GBS]) or Escherichia coli, which contributes significantly to neonatal morbidity and mortality. Whereas early-onset sepsis is normally derived from mother during birth, late-onset sepsis can be transmitted by the environment. Management of neonatal sepsis includes the maintenance of cardiovascular and pulmonary function besides antibiotic therapy. Due to the fact that until today, there are no reliable screening tests for detecting early sepsis, clinical assessment is considered to be of utmost importance.

Early-Onset Neonatal Sepsis: The Challenges of Management

“…Prematurity: In our population, 76,4% (117) of neonates were premature, a result that is similar with the ones found in Naulikha et al study, with a proportion of 89,1 % and in Betty C. et al study where 80,6% of neonates were premature [3,12]. Another study conducted also in Austria comparing GBS to E. coli in EOS found that 42% of neonates with GBS EOS were premature and that 72,7% of neonates with E. coli EOS were premature [23].…”

“…3,2% (5) were admitted for fever and 4,3% (7) for neurological distress. Other signs were seen too such as hemorrhage syndrome in 7,1% (11), low sucking reflex in 14,4% (23), sclerema in 3% (5), apnea in 9% (14), tachycardia in 22,2% (34) and jaundice in 7,8% (12), hypothermia in 47 % (72), Hyperglycemia was found 13,70% (21) and hypoglycemia in 9,1% (14) of cases. 13,07% (20) had oliguria and 2,4% (4) had anuria.…”

“…Dopamine was used in 12,4% (19) of cases and Epinephrine was used in 15,68% (24) of cases. The mean duration of drugs use was 3,18 days [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”