The Holy Grail of Ascertainment of Early-Onset Neonatal Sepsis

Although bacterial sepsis in newborn infants undoubtedly has occurred since the dawn of our species, the specific diagnosis only became possible less than a century ago with the advent of techniques for routine blood cultures.1 Since then, those responsible for care of newborn infants have had a respectful fear of fulminant sepsis. Recognition that early signs of infection often are subtle2 and that infection, especially with group B Streptococcus, could progress from few or no signs to death within hours3 supported a recommendation for the “institution of vigorous therapy, often prior to the availability of definitive clinical and laboratory evidence of infection.”4 Despite a focus on early ascertainment, mortality among infected neonates remained high, prompting the development of risk-based guidelines for prevention of early-ons et group B Streptococcus infection by the American Academy of Pediatrics5 and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists6 in 1992.
Source: The Journal of Pediatrics - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Editorials Source Type: research