Determination the bacterial etiologies for sepsis in premature newborns admitted in neonatal intensive care unit

Bacterial sepsis is a main cause of mortality and morbidity especially in preterm newborns. The aim of this study was to search the bacterial etiologies of neonatal sepsis in NICU admitted preterm neonates.
A descriptive cross-sectional study had done in NICU of Ali Asghar Hospital, Tehran, Iran from March 2007 to March 2009. Seventy septicemic preterm newborns ( Of 70 studied septicemic preterm cases, 17 (10.6%) cases had positive blood culture. Overall gram-negative organisms were more frequent than gram-positive organisms, Klebsiella (K.) pneumoniae, Escherichia (E.) coli and Staphylococcus (S.) aureus organisms were the 3 common causes of bacterial sepsis in studied cases. Early onset sepsis produced by K. pneumonia (40%), E. coli (20%) and S. aureus (20%). K. pneumonia, E. coli, S. aureus had equal incidence in late onset sepsis (26.8%). K. pneumonia was more frequent in early onset sepsis (P= 0.05), and in low birth weight ( Three causes for sepsis in premature newborns were determined: K. pneumonia, E. coli and S. aureus, it is so important for initial antibiotic treatment in admission day. Low birth weight, prematurity, and, PROM were the common risk factors for sepsis in cases. By preventing of low birth weight, low gestational age, and PROM the risk of sepsis could be decreased. We recommend empiric antibiotic in septic preterm newborns which can cover: K. pneumonia, E. coli and S. aureus in our center.