Neonatal sepsis : causative agents

الملخص EN

A prospective study was performed to determine the prevalent pathogenic agents of septicemia in neonates aged (0-30) days admitted to special care baby unit (SCBU), Basrah Maternity and Children Hospital during 8 months (from 1"July-2000-28" February.

2001).

One hundred seventy neonates were studied ; sepsis was confirmed in 151 neonates (88.8 %) by positive blood culture.

(62 %) of studied neonates were preterms, (60 %) were males (male to female ratio is 3 : 2).

Early onset disease (<72 hour age) occurred in (36.5 %), while late onset sepsis (4-30 days age) in (63.5 %,), most of cases of the late onset disease were nosocomial infections (57.4 %).

Gram negative bacteria were the predominant isolate both in early and late onset disease (78.14 %).

E.

coli was the commonest organism in early onset sepsis (45.6 %), while Klebsiella spp.

were the commonest organism in the late onset disease (45.7 %), most of the late onset sepsis were nasocomial infections (57.44 %).

As a conclusion gram negative bacteria (especially Klebsiella and E.coli) were the leading bacterial agents of neonatal sepsis in our environment, and the relative high frequency of nosocomial infection mandates the intensification of preventive control measures to limit the spread of infections.