Clinical Laboratory Features of Microbes That Cause Neonatal Sepsis: An 8-Year Retrospective Study

Zhengjiang Jin; Zhenhui Wang; Jinchun Li; Lu Yi; Nian Liu; Lan Luo

doi:10.2147/IDR.S367068

Clinical Laboratory Features of Microbes That Cause Neonatal Sepsis: An 8-Year Retrospective Study

Infect Drug Resist. 2022 Jun 9:15:2983-2993. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S367068. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Zhengjiang Jin^#¹, Zhenhui Wang^#¹, Jinchun Li², Lu Yi¹, Nian Liu¹, Lan Luo³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Neonatology, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Child Health, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the distribution and antibiotic resistance patterns among pathogens that cause neonatal sepsis (NS) and to assess trends in antibiotic resistance.

Patients and methods: A total of 864 patients with sepsis admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) between 2014 and 2021 were enrolled. Data on neonate age and sex, pathogenic microbes, and antimicrobial susceptibility were collected. Univariate and linear regression analyses were performed to determine the differences and trends in antibiotic resistance rates.

Results: The overall incidence rate of NS was 4.59 cases per 1000 live births. Of these cases, 255 (29.5%) were early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) and 609 (70.5%) were late-onset neonatal sepsis (LONS). A total of 670 (70.5%) gram-positive cocci and 171 (19.8%) gram-negative bacilli were identified. Among the 552 coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) strains, the rate of oxacillin resistance was 70.6%, but no strains were resistant to linezolid, vancomycin or tigecycline. Among the antibiotic resistance patterns of the top three gram-negative pathogens, K. pneumoniae showed the highest rates of resistance, with resistance rates of 37.9% and 39.4% to ertapenem and imipenem, respectively, while E. coli and Enterobacter cloacae showed high levels of susceptibility to both. With regard to the trends in resistance among important pathogens, the rates of resistance to rifampicin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin and clindamycin by Staphylococcus epidermidis significantly decreased (p<0.05) during the study period. E. coli strains exhibited a significant increase in ceftriaxone resistance during the study period (p<0.05).

Conclusion: CoNS was the main microbe that caused NS, followed by E. coli. The bacterial isolates showed varying levels of resistance to the antimicrobial drugs tested. Thus, periodic surveillance in hospital settings to monitor changes in pathogens and antibiotic resistance is important.

Keywords: NICU; antibiotic resistance; microorganisms; neonatal sepsis.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Hubei Provincial Health Commission Joint Fund Project (No: WJ2019H280).