Follow-up of newborns, infants, and children with sepsis

Abstract

Mortality in newborn infants and children with sepsis is high with survival rates of generally more than 50% in recent studies. Longitudinal follow-up studies have the potential to reveal short-term and lifelong physical, mental, and psychological sequelae. Although no comprehensive follow-up research has yet been performed, a small number of follow-up studies have shown that there is a considerable impact on the patients' lives and their families after hospital discharge. Health-related quality of life also seems to be affected; however, it does not correlate with severity of sepsis or handicap per se. Prematurely born infants, who can develop sequelae directly attributable to prematurity and its consequences, suffer differently from sepsis-related lifelong sequelae compared with older children. Fortunately, time may heal some wounds due to the effect of growth in children. In future, large centers should establish structural follow-up programs for clinical and research purposes to learn more about the needs of affected children and their families.