Neonatal bacterial and fungal infections

Abstract

Neonatal infection is the invasion of tissue by an infective organism. This may be considered early-onset when occurring during the first 72 hours of life (very early-onset if starting during the first 12 hours), and late-onset when occurring after the first 72 hours. Infections represent a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), where reported incidences range from 6% to 33% [1], and up to 40% in neonates born before 28 weeks’ gestational age or with birth weight < 1000 g (extremely low birth weight, ELBW) [2]. Septicemia accounts for 45–55% of all infections, followed by lower respiratory tract infections (16– 30%) and urinary tract infections (UTIs, 8–18%) [1, 3].