A CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF NEONATAL SEPSIS - EXPERIENCE FROM SAUDI-ARABIA

Sixty-one cases of neonatal septicaemia (NNS) identified by positive b lood cultures during surveillance of infection at King Fahd Hospital o f the University in Khobar, Saudi Arabia from September 1983 September 1988 were studied to evaluate the local pattern of pathogens and the risk factors for sepsis using a case control analysis, The incidence o f NNS was 4.9 per 1000 live births (LB), Among inborn infants, birth w eight specific sepsis rate ranged from 2 per 1000 liveborns among infa nts with birth weight greater than or equal to 2500 g to 150 per 1000 liveborns in those weighing less than or equal to 1500 g, Factors sign ificantly associated with septicaemia were foetal distress, low Apgar score at 5 min, and requirement for mechanical ventilation and umbilic al catheterization, Similar findings were obtained with infants whose mothers had pre-eclampsia, Staphylococci were the major Gram-positive isolate occurring in both 'early' (less than or equal to 48 h) and 'la te' (448 h) onset septicaemia, The study highlights the importance of knowledge of local epidemiology of NNS to formulate antibiotic policy, It also suggests the need for reporting birth weight specific rates a nd for a larger case control study of risk factors for NNS.