Trends of Sepsis and Meningitis in Newborns Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) During 4 Years

Neonatal sepsis and meningitis is of great importance, due to nonspecific clinical presentation, diagnostic difficulties, complications and high mortality. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the trends of sepsis and meningitis of newborns admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In this study, we reviewed the records of all infants admitted to the NICU of Izadi hospital, Qom, Iran, from April 2010 to March 2014. Length of stay, gestational age, birth weight, sex, type of delivery, premature rupture of membranes, results of blood cultures and cerebrospinal fluid cultures and analysis, white blood cell count and C-reactive protein was extracted and the data were analyzed. A total of 1010 infants were studied. Male to female ratio was 564 to 446. There was no significant difference between percentage of low-birth-weight infants, cesarean section, premature rupture of the amniotic membranes, intrauterine growth retardation, prematurity and length of hospital stay and the admission years. 79 cases of sepsis and 3 cases of meningitis were diagnosed in 4 years. Sepsis was diagnosed in 12.3% in 2010 and 8.7% in 2013. This study showed that the incidence of sepsis and meningitis in Izadi hospital have downtrend; which could be due to the hygiene improve, proper treatment and decrease in the strains causing meningitis.