Serious bacterial infections in neonates: improving reporting and case definitions

Stefania Vergnano; Anna C Seale; Elizabeth J A Fitchett; Mike Sharland; Paul T Heath

doi:10.1093/inthealth/ihx011

Serious bacterial infections in neonates: improving reporting and case definitions

Int Health. 2017 May 1;9(3):148-155. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihx011.

Authors

Stefania Vergnano¹, Anna C Seale^{2

3}, Elizabeth J A Fitchett², Mike Sharland¹, Paul T Heath¹

Affiliations

¹ Paediatric Infectious Disease Research Group, Department of Infection and Immunity, St George's University of London, Jenner wing, London, UK.
² MARCH Centre, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
³ The Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, University College London, London, UK.

PMID: 28582556
DOI: 10.1093/inthealth/ihx011

Abstract

Neonatal infections affect about 7 million neonates causing over 600 000 deaths every year. Estimating the burden is challenging as there are multiple reporting criteria and definitions for serious bacterial infections in neonates. Essential criteria for reporting serious neonatal bacterial infections have recently been published as the STROBE-NI checklist and, in the context of maternal vaccination, definitions have been published by the Brighton Collaboration Global Alignment of Immunization safety Assessment in pregnancy (GAIA) project. Standardisation of reporting criteria is essential to allow data comparability. This an important step in providing a clearer picture of the burden of serious bacterial infections in neonates and a welcome progress for guiding new investments in interventions.

Keywords: Bacteremia; Bacterial infection; Infant; Neonatal infections; Newborn; Septicemia.

MeSH terms

Bacterial Infections / diagnosis*
Disease Notification / standards
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Severity of Illness Index*