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. 2018 Jan;177(1):33-38.
doi: 10.1007/s00431-017-3030-9. Epub 2017 Oct 23.

Late-onset sepsis due to urinary tract infection in very preterm neonates is not uncommon

Alexander B Mohseny  1 , Veerle van Velze  1 , Sylke J Steggerda  1 , Vivianne E H J Smits-Wintjens  1 , Vincent Bekker  2 , Enrico Lopriore  3
Affiliations

Late-onset sepsis due to urinary tract infection in very preterm neonates is not uncommon

Alexander B Mohseny et al. Eur J Pediatr. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common cause of sepsis in infants. Premature infants hospitalized at a neonatal intensive care unit often have risk factors for infection. In this group, the risk of UTI is not clearly known, and guidelines for urine analysis are not unanimous. We aimed to identify the risk of UTI in premature infants with central lines, suspected of late-onset sepsis. We analyzed all 1402 infants admitted to our hospital between 2006 and 2014 with a gestational age less than 32 weeks. Six hundred sixty-two episodes of sepsis evaluations were found with an unknown source of infection based on clinical symptoms. In half of this group, urine analysis was performed identifying UTI in 11.3% (24/212). In 13 of these infants (54%) with a UTI, infection was due to Candida albicans. In at least four episodes, the diagnosis and treatment would have been delayed if urine analysis had not been performed.

Conclusion: Based on these findings, we conclude that in premature infants with central lines, urine analysis should be performed routinely when signs of infection occur beyond 72 h after birth. Urine collection should not be delayed and cultures should preferably be performed before the start of the antibiotic treatment. What is known: • In preterm infants, the presence of other risk factors for infection might make clinicians reluctant to obtain urine cultures during sepsis evaluation. • An internal survey demonstrated that there is no consensus within the NICUs in The Netherlands regarding urine analysis as part of LOS work-up. What is new: • The risk of UTI in the NICU population (11.3%) is comparable to term infants; therefore, urine analysis should be performed routinely when LOS is suspected. • Candida albicans was the most frequently (54%) detected pathogen causing UTI in this population.

Keywords: Candida albicans; Central venous catheter; Late-onset sepsis; Premature infant; Urinary tract infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

The authors declare that all patients’ data were handled in a coded fashion according to the LUMC’s and Dutch national ethical guidelines.

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