Clinical-epidemiological profile of early sepsis in newborns A single-center observational study

Abstract

Introduction: Early neonatal sepsis is a clinical syndrome characterized by signs and symptoms associated with systemic infection; it occurs in the first 72 hours after birth. This study aimed to determine the clinical-epidemiological profile of early neonatal sepsis in a neonatal intensive care unit of a regional reference center in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Methods: The present observational study, carried out at the "Teodoro Maldonado Carbo" Hospital from January 2017 to December 2020, included neonates with early neonatal sepsis with a nonprobabilistic sample. The variables were age, gestational age, sex, route of infection, presence of urinary tract infections, weight, genopathies, Apgar at 1 minute, Silverman scale, clinical stages, capillary refill, urinary output, clinical and laboratory variables, haem culture, and causative organism. The analysis is univariate and descriptive with frequencies and percentages.

Results: A total of 278 patients with a mean gestational age of 33 weeks were included, and 59.4% were men. Maternal risk factors were UTI in pregnancy and transplacental infection. Among the factors associated with the newborn were low weight (56%) and prematurity (67%). The most frequent symptoms were euthermia and tachypnea (54%). In the laboratory profile, neutropenia predominated (49%), while the causative agents were Staphylococcus hominis (7%), Escherichia coli (4.3%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (4%).

Conclusion: The direct relationship between the epidemiological characteristics and the clinical stages of neonatal sepsis was determined.