Neonatal sepsis: Pathogenesis and supportive therapy

Etiology and Clinical Outcomes of Neonatal and Pediatric Sepsis

“…The frequency of pediatric sepsis was found to be greater than 42,000 cases annually, with an associated mortality rate of 10% in the United States (2). Studies from the United Kingdom have shown that 17% of children die from severe sepsis and septic shock in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) (3). The incidence of neonatal sepsis, according to data from the national neonatal perinatal database (NNPD) for 2002 -03, was 30 per 1,000 live births (2).…”

“…The etiology of sepsis is associated with infections such as meningitis, pneumonia, arthritis, osteomyelitis, phlebitis, gastroenteritis, and urinary tract infections. It is also due to immune suppression, major injuries, catheter insertion, or as a nosocomial infection (3). Although everyone could potentially develop sepsis from minor infections, it is most likely to develop in children with very low birth weight, suppressed immune systems, congenital anomalies, catheterization, and co-morbid conditions.…”

A study of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) in Neonatal Sepsis

“…12 Hyperkalemia was defined as serum potassium level >7.5 mmol/L in the first day of life and >6.5 mmol/L in the remaining days. 15 Hypertension was diagnosed with systolic and diastolic blood pressures curves described by Zubrow et al 16 Liver failure was defined by the elevated levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase that were three times higher than upper limit normal values.…”

Effect of Granulocyte and Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factors (G-CSF and GM-CSF) on Neonatal Neutrophil Functions

“…Neonatal sepsis continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the nursery and the neonatal intensive care unit, particularly in the VLBW newborn infant (1,2). Despite the aggressive supportive treatment and the appropriate use of antibiotics, the mortality rate remains high.…”

“…Neutropenia and depleted neutrophil storage pools have been found to be associated with neonatal bacterial sepsis and are predictive of a poor prognosis (3)(4)(5)(6). Neutrophil functions were also reported to be impaired in newborn infants (2,(7)(8)(9)(10)(11).…”