Neonatal gram-negative bacillary late-onset sepsis: A case-control-control study on a prospectively collected database of 5,233 admissions

Abstract

Background: Gram-negative bacillary (GNB) bloodstream infections account for 20%-30% of neonatal late-onset sepsis (LOS). We aimed to identify the incidence, clinical characteristics, and risk factors for adverse outcomes in neonates with GNB LOS.

Methods: All patients with GNB LOS admitted to the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) of a university-affiliated teaching hospital in Taiwan from January 1, 2004-December 31, 2011, were enrolled. A case-control-control study was performed to evaluate risk factors for acquisition of neonatal GNB LOS.

Results: Of the 5,010 neonates, 290 (5.8%) had a total of 346 episodes of GNB LOS (36.7% of total LOS), with an incidence rate of 13.6 per 10,000 neonate hospital days. The overall mortality rate was 17.6% (51/290), and the sepsis attributable mortality rate was 9.8% (34/346 episodes). After multivariate logistic regression analysis, neonates with prolonged use of total parenteral nutrition (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-2.29; P = .041) were independently associated with acquisition of GNB LOS. The independent predictors of in-hospital mortality were Pseudomonas aeruginosa etiology (OR = 11.45; 95% CI, 2.83-46.24) and underlying secondary pulmonary hypertension (OR = 18.02; 95% CI, 3.28-98.89), renal disease (OR = 17.16; 95% CI, 2.96-99.38), and neuromuscular comorbidities (OR = 2.72; 95% CI, 1.06-7.00).

Conclusion: Given the higher illness severity and sepsis-attributable mortality rate of neonatal GNB LOS in the NICU, strategies to reduce the incidence need to be addressed urgently.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance; Bloodstream infection; Gram-negative bacilli; Late-onset sepsis; Risk factors.