THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF PERINATAL SEPSIS IN A NEONATAL INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT

We report our experience with 345 premature infants weighing less than 1,500 g admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit during 1990-1993 . The improved survival of the very-low-birth-weight patients was rela ted mainly to the routine use of surfactant in the treatment of respir atory distress. In addition, as a result of several preventive precaut ions, early diagnosis, and appropriate antimicrobial therapy, a decrea se in neonatal sepsis was observed. The decrease in the ratio between the number of septic episodes to the number of septic patients is anot her indication of the efficacy of our current preventive and therapeut ic protocols.