Evidence review for antibiotics for treating late-onset neonatal infection: Neonatal infection: antibiotics for prevention and treatment

Excerpt

Neonatal infection is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in newborn babies. It can lead to life-threatening sepsis, which accounts for 10% of all neonatal deaths. Late-onset neonatal infection (infection that occurs more than 72 hours after birth), is present in 7 of every 1000 newborn babies and is responsible for 61 of every 1000 neonatal admissions. Coagulase-negative staphylococci, Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococcus aureus are the most common organisms identified.

Antibiotics are given to the baby if it is suspected that they have late-onset neonatal infection. There are a range of different antibiotics, and combinations of antibiotics that can be given to a baby to help treat late-onset neonatal infection. Establishing which treatment is the most effective will help to reduce the harms associated with late-onset infection. The aim of this review is to establish the clinical and cost-effectiveness of antibiotics for treating late-onset neonatal infection, including which classes of antibiotics should be used.