Silvia A. Barrera-Barrera, Departamento de Neonatología, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Mexico City, México
Luis E. Fernández-Garza, Laboratorio Nacional LANSEIDI, Sede Innbiogem SC, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon; Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital General de Zona N°2, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon; México
Miguel A. Rodríguez-Weber, Departamento de Neonatología, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Mexico City, Mexico
Hugo A. Barrera-Saldaña, Laboratorio Nacional LANSEIDI, Sede Innbiogem SC, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon; Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas; Facultad de Medicina. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolas de los Garza, Nuevo León. México
Background: Neonatal sepsis is a systemic infection of bacterial, viral, or fungal origin that is associated with hemodynamic changes and other clinical appearances with a positive blood culture in the 1st month of life. Objective: To characterize the clinical evolution of neonatal sepsis at a tertiary care hospital in Mexico. Material and methods: Observational, retrospective, and cross-sectional study in Mexico City between 2016 and 2020. The inclusion criteria were patients aged < 28 days and a clinical diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Results: Ninety-six newborns with suspicion of neonatal sepsis were included, of which 64 (66.7%) were male. The final diagnosis of 58 (60.4%) was early-onset sepsis (EOS), 31 (32.3%) was late-onset sepsis (LOS), 7 (7.9%) were discharged with another diagnosis, and 5 (5.6%) died during hospitalization. Fifteen peripheral blood cultures and five umbilical catheter blood cultures showed growth. The predominance of isolation was Gram-positive, with 65% of these. In the early-onset group, patients were younger, had lower weight, lower APGAR scores, greater need for early neonatal resuscitation, and a higher proportion of a history of maternal infection than in the late-onset group. Conclusion: EOS was more frequent than LOS in a 2:1 ratio, and its overall mortality was 5.2%.
Keywords: Neonatal sepsis. Early-onset sepsis. Late-onset sepsis. Blood culture. Gram-positive.