Definition
One speaks of a newborn infection in the case of an infectious disease of a newborn child up to the 4th week of life. In colloquial language, however, it is often used to refer to infectious diseases in infants up to the age of one year. Strictly speaking, however, newborns are children who have not reached the 4th week of life.
Infections in newborns can be caused by various pathogens. In most cases these are bacterial infections caused by group B streptococci or staphylococci. Sometimes, however, Gram-negative pathogens (also bacteria) are also the cause of the infection.
One should not confuse the newborn infection with other infectious diseases that can be transmitted, for example, by the mother to the child during pregnancy or birth. These would include, for example, HIV or CMV. However, according to the definition, these are not newborn infections. A distinction is made between systemic neonatal infection, known as neonatal sepsis, and topical (local) neonatal infections.
Frequency of newborn infections
It is difficult to give an exact number when it comes to newborn infection/sepsis. One can assume approximately 1 to 2 cases per 1000 births. Some figures speak of 0.29 cases per 1000 births.
It should be noted that often only those cases of neonatal infection are counted in which group B streptococci are the cause and could also be isolated as the pathogen. However, it can be assumed that the value is between 1 and about 0.3 per 1000 live births. It is noticeable, however, that the lower the birth weight, the more often the babies are affected by newborn sepsis.
With a birth weight below 1.5 kg, newborn sepsis occurs in up to 15% of babies. This also speaks for a high relevance in premature babies. In addition, there are various risk factors that can further increase the probability and frequency of a newborn infection.
These include an amniotic infection syndrome or blood poisoning in the mother as well as a birth well before the calculated date. With the child the risk factors include all kinds of possible entry points such as wounds or accesses. As a result of prophylaxis against group B streptococci, the frequency of newborn sepsis has decreased considerably. Although the mortality rate of neonatal sepsis has also decreased due to good therapy measures, it still lies at 4% in mature newborns. Premature babies have a higher risk of death.
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