Neonatal Early-Onset Sepsis Calculator

摘要

Can the neonatal early-onset sepsis calculator safely and accurately evaluate the risk of early-onset sepsis in neonates?Although early-onset sepsis is a potentially fatal condition in neonates, the incidence in the United States has significantly decreased over the past two decades with the implementation of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis for group B Streptococcus (GBS).1 Many neonates are unnecessarily exposed to empiric antibiotic therapy because physicians are using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for management of early-onset sepsis. For every episode of culture-proven sepsis, up to 118 high-risk infants and up to 1,400 well-appearing infants born to mothers with chorioamnionitis will receive antibiotic therapy.2 Exposure to empiric antibiotics can result in sequelae, including separation of mother and infant, increased neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions, difficulty breastfeeding, and increased health care costs.