Items for "septicemia"

Neonatal septicemia in high risk babies in South-Eastern Nigeria

Background: Septicemia is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the neonatal period and it often has a rapid and fulminant course.

Aims: To determine the incidence, predisposing factors, clinical features, bacteriologic pattern and antibiotic sensitivity of neonatal septicemia.

Design: A prospective study was undertaken over a 1½-year period in the neonatal unit of Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Southeastern Nigeria.

Methods: All newborns (age 0–28 days) admitted with clinical features and/or risk factors suggestive of neonatal septicemia were selected and screened for septicemia.

Results: The study identified 33 septicemic neonates of the 138 neonates (23.9%) screened, 19/92 (20.7%) for inborns and 14/46 (30.4%) for outborns, representing an incidence of 7.98/1000 live births...

Keywords: Antibiotic-pattern, high risk newborns, septicemia