Health care-associated infections in neonatology

Abstract

Health care-associated infections are common in neonatology, but there is no consensus on their definitions. This makes it difficult to compare their incidence or assess the effectiveness of prevention bundles. This is why we think it is very important to achieve a consensus on the definitions and diagnostic criteria for one of the most frequent causes of morbidity in hospitalised neonates. This document aims to standardise the definitions for the most frequent health care-associated infections, such as catheter-associated bloodstream infection, ventilator-associated pneumonia and surgical wound infection, as well as the approach to their diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: Bacteraemia; Bacteriemia; Infección nosocomial; Neonate; Neonato; Neumonía; Nosocomial infection; Pneumonia; Profilaxis quirúrgica; Surgical prophylaxis.