Routine neonatal screening for toxoplasmosis identifies congenital infections that are subclinical, and early treatment may reduce the severe long-term sequelae.

Objective To determine whether training traditional birth attendants to manage several common perinatal conditions could reduce neonatal mortality in the setting of a resource poor country with limited access to healthcare. Design Prospective, cluster randomised and controlled effectiveness study. Setting Lufwanyama, an agrarian, poorly developed district located in the Copperbelt province, Zambia. All births carried out by study birth attendants occurred at mothers' homes, in rural village settings. Participants 127 traditional birth attendants and mothers and their newborns (3559 infants delivered regardless of vital status) from Lufwanyama district. Interventions Using an unblinded design, birth attendants were cluster randomised to intervention or control groups. The intervention had two components: training in a modified version of the neonatal resuscitation protocol, and single dose amoxicillin coupled with facilitated referral of infants to a health centre. Control birth attendants continued their existing standard of care (basic obstetric skills and use of clean delivery kits). Main outcome measures The primary outcome was the proportion of liveborn infants who died by day 28 after birth, with rate ratios statistically adjusted for clustering. Secondary outcomes were mortality at different time points; and comparison of causes of death based on verbal autopsy data. Results Among 3497 deliveries with reliable information, mortality at day 28 after birth was 45% lower among liveborn infants delivered by intervention birth attendants than control birth attendants (rate ratio 0.55, 95% confidence interval 0.33 to 0.90). The greatest reductions in mortality were in the first 24 hours after birth: 7.8 deaths per 1000 live births for infants delivered by intervention birth attendants compared with 19.9 per 1000 for infants delivered by control birth attendants (0.40, 0.19 to 0.83). Deaths due to birth asphyxia were reduced by 63% among infants delivered by intervention birth attendants (0.37, 0.17 to 0.81) and by 81% within the first two days after birth (0.19, 0.07 to 0.52). Stillbirths and deaths from serious infection occurred at similar rates in both groups. Conclusions Training traditional birth attendants to manage common perinatal conditions significantly reduced neonatal mortality in a rural African setting. This approach has high potential to be applied to similar settings with dispersed rural populations. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00518856.

IMPORTANCE Hypothermia at 33.5°C for 72 hours for neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy reduces death or disability to 44% to 55%; longer cooling and deeper cooling are neuroprotective in animal models. OBJECTIVE To determine if longer duration cooling (120 hours), deeper cooling (32.0°C), or both are superior to cooling at 33.5°C for 72 hours in neonates who are full-term with moderate or severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Arandomized, 2 × 2 factorial design clinical trial performed in 18 US centers in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Neonatal Research Network between October 2010 and November 2013. INTERVENTIONS Neonates were assigned to 4 hypothermia groups; 33.5°C for 72 hours, 32.0°C for 72 hours, 33.5°C for 120 hours, and 32.0°C for 120 hours. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome of death or disability at 18 to 22 months is ongoing. The independent data and safety monitoring committee paused the trial to evaluate safety (cardiac arrhythmia, persistent acidosis, major vessel thrombosis and bleeding, and death in the neonatal intensive care unit [NICU]) after the first 50 neonates were enrolled, then after every subsequent 25 neonates. The trial was closed for emerging safety profile and futility analysis after the eighth review with 364 neonates enrolled (of 726 planned). This report focuses on safety and NICU deaths by marginal comparisons of 72 hours’ vs 120 hours’ duration and 33.5°C depth vs 32.0°C depth (predefined secondary outcomes). RESULTS The NICU death rates were 7 of 95 neonates (7%) for the 33.5°C for 72 hours group, 13 of 90 neonates (14%) for the 32.0°C for 72 hours group, 15 of 96 neonates (16%) for the 33.5°C for 120 hours group, and 14 of 83 neonates (17%) for the 32.0°C for 120 hours group. The adjusted risk ratio (RR) for NICU deaths for the 120 hours group vs 72 hours group was 1.37 (95% CI, 0.92–2.04) and for the 32.0°C group vs 33.5°C group was 1.24 (95% CI, 0.69–2.25). Safety outcomes were similar between the 120 hours group vs 72 hours group and the 32.0°C group vs 33.5°C group, except major bleeding occurred among 1% in the 120 hours group vs 3% in the 72 hours group (RR, 0.25 [95% CI, 0.07–0.91]). Futility analysis determined that the probability of detecting a statistically significant benefit for longer cooling, deeper cooling, or both for NICU death was less than 2%. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among neonates who were full-term with moderate or severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, longer cooling, deeper cooling, or both compared with hypothermia at 33.5°C for 72 hours did not reduce NICU death. These results have implications for patient care and design of future trials.

The role of pili and capsule was studied in neonatal infection with Escherichia coli K1. E coli strains were selectively cultured into three phases: mannose-sensitive (MS) piliated, non-mannose-sensitive (NMS) piliated, and nonpiliated. A high percentage of neonatal rats fed each phase of K1 strains developed bacteremia; there was no bacteremia with non-K1 strains or an acapsular mutant of K1 strain C94 (C94K-). Oral cavity colonization was noted in nearly 100% of rats fed K1 strains, non-K1 strains, or C94K-, regardless of the phase of piliation at feeding. Only MS piliated bacteria were found on oral cavity culture, indicating a rapid shift of NMS piliated and nonpiliated bacteria to the MS piliated phase. Conversely, only nonpiliated bacteria were found on blood culture when neonatal rats were fed piliated bacteria. Colonization of ileal epithelium was not observed. Thus, in vivo phase variation may be important in colonization and bacteremia with E coli K1.

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Objective To provide relevant details on how interventions in the Lufwanyama Neonatal Survival Project (LUNESP) were developed and how Zambian traditional birth attendants (TBAs) were trained to perform them. Methods The study tested 2 interventions: a simplified version of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ neonatal resuscitation protocol (NRP); and antibiotics with facilitated referral (AFR). Results Key elements that enabled the positive study result were: focusing on common and correctible causes of mortality; selecting a study population with high unmet public health need; early community mobilization to build awareness and support; emphasizing simplicity in the intervention technology and algorithms; using a traditional training approach appropriate to students with low literacy rates; requiring TBAs to demonstrate their competence before completing each workshop; and minimizing attrition of skills by retraining and reassessing the TBAs regularly throughout the study. Conclusion An effective NRP training model was created that is suitable for community-based neonatal interventions, in research or programmatic settings, and by practitioners with limited obstetric skills and low rates of literacy.

Haemophilus influenzae pili were purified, and their physical and serological properties were examined. The solution properties of the pili were determined, and then a purification scheme involving repeated cycles of precipitation and solubilization was developed. The purified pili from one type b isolate (A02) were found to consist of multiple copies of a 25,000 mol wt subunit. Amino-terminal sequence analysis of A02 pili was carried out to 40 amino acid residues, and a remarkable degree of sequence homology was found with E. coli P and mannose-sensitive (MS) pili (27.5 and 25% homology, respectively). Purified A02 pili were found to be highly immunogenic, and serological analysis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and whole piliated cell agglutination revealed significant cross-reactivity between A02 pilus antiserum and the pili of seven other H. influenzae strains tested (heterologous titers = 2-100% of the homologous titer). Cross-reactivity was also observed between the H. influenzae pili (five of eight strains tested) and the P pili from E. coli strains HU849 and 3669; no cross-reactivity was detected with MS pili from E. coli strain H10407 and C94. The structural similarities between H. influenzae and E. coli P and MS pili suggest a common gene ancestry.

ImportanceAppropriate use of antibiotics is life-saving in neonatal early-onset sepsis (EOS), but overuse of antibiotics is associated with antimicrobial resistance and long-term adverse outcomes. Large international studies quantifying early-life antibiotic exposure along with EOS incidence are needed to provide a basis for future interventions aimed at safely reducing neonatal antibiotic exposure.ObjectiveTo compare early postnatal exposure to antibiotics, incidence of EOS, and mortality among different networks in high-income countries.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis is a retrospective, cross-sectional study of late-preterm and full-term neonates born between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2018, in 13 hospital-based or population-based networks from 11 countries in Europe and North America and Australia. The study included all infants born alive at a gestational age greater than or equal to 34 weeks in the participating networks. Data were analyzed from October 2021 to March 2022.ExposuresExposure to antibiotics started in the first postnatal week.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe main outcomes were the proportion of late-preterm and full-term neonates receiving intravenous antibiotics, the duration of antibiotic treatment, the incidence of culture-proven EOS, and all-cause and EOS-associated mortality.ResultsA total of 757 979 late-preterm and full-term neonates were born in the participating networks during the study period; 21 703 neonates (2.86%; 95% CI, 2.83%-2.90%), including 12 886 boys (59.4%) with a median (IQR) gestational age of 39 (36-40) weeks and median (IQR) birth weight of 3250 (2750-3750) g, received intravenous antibiotics during the first postnatal week. The proportion of neonates started on antibiotics ranged from 1.18% to 12.45% among networks. The median (IQR) duration of treatment was 9 (7-14) days for neonates with EOS and 4 (3-6) days for those without EOS. This led to an antibiotic exposure of 135 days per 1000 live births (range across networks, 54-491 days per 1000 live births). The incidence of EOS was 0.49 cases per 1000 live births (range, 0.18-1.45 cases per 1000 live births). EOS-associated mortality was 3.20% (12 of 375 neonates; range, 0.00%-12.00%). For each case of EOS, 58 neonates were started on antibiotics and 273 antibiotic days were administered.Conclusions and RelevanceThe findings of this study suggest that antibiotic exposure during the first postnatal week is disproportionate compared with the burden of EOS and that there are wide (up to 9-fold) variations internationally. This study defined a set of indicators reporting on both dimensions to facilitate benchmarking and future interventions aimed at safely reducing antibiotic exposure in early life.