Abstract

Neonatal sepsis (NS) continues to be a significant contributor to illness and death in newborns, although there is a lack of comprehensive information on the causes and antibiotic resistance patterns of the bacteria involved. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics, risk factors, and the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of pathogenic microorganisms associated with NS at tertiary children’s hospital. A retrospective review was conducted on episodes of blood culture-proven sepsis in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Children's Hospital of Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences, Telangana. India , covering the period from March 2012 to Dec 2013. The collected data encompassed information on demographics, perinatal risk factors, clinical symptoms, laboratory values, microbiology results, and the susceptibility of the microorganisms to antimicrobial agents. A comparison was made between the data for early-onset newborn sepsis (AEONS) and late-onset neonatal sepsis (LONS). A total of 170 cases with positive culture results were chosen for analysis. Among these instances, there were 34 cases of early-onset neonatal sepsis (AEONS), 49 cases of late-onset neonatal sepsis (LONS). A total of 635 instances that were not completed were excluded. There were notable disparities in risk factors between the AEONS group and LONS group, including birth weight, gestational age, respiratory assistance, and the utilisation of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC). There were noticeable variations across the groups in terms of clinical symptoms, including fever, feeding difficulties, abdominal swelling, and infant jaundice. Additionally, there were disparities in test findings, such as haemoglobin and lymphocyte counts. Staphylococcus epidermidis , Escherichia coli , Alcaligenes xylosoxidans and Klebsiella pneumoniae remain the primary pathogens responsible for newborn sepsis. The majority of Gram-positive bacteria isolates shown susceptibility to vancomycin, linezolid, minocycline, and tigecycline, with over 90% demonstrating resistance to penicillin.Better medical decisions, notably early detection and suitable initial antimicrobial therapy can be made after recognising the various clinical characteristics and pathogens of EONS and LONS.

Description