Skip to main content

Advertising Disclaimer »

Main menu

  • Journals
    • Pediatrics
    • Hospital Pediatrics
    • Pediatrics in Review
    • NeoReviews
    • AAP Grand Rounds
    • AAP News
  • Authors
    • Author Guidelines
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Complete Issue PDF
    • Archive
    • 20th Anniversary Special Edition
    • Topic/Program Collections
    • Blog
    • Questions from NeoReviews
  • CME/MOC
    • CME Quizzes
    • MOC Claiming
    • NeoReviewsPlus
    • Board Review Study Guide
  • Multimedia
    • NeoReviews Video Library
    • Pediatrics On Call Podcast
  • Subscribe
  • Alerts
  • Careers
  • Other Publications
    • American Academy of Pediatrics

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
American Academy of Pediatrics

AAP Gateway

Advanced Search

AAP Logo

  • Log in
  • My Cart
  • Journals
    • Pediatrics
    • Hospital Pediatrics
    • Pediatrics in Review
    • NeoReviews
    • AAP Grand Rounds
    • AAP News
  • Authors
    • Author Guidelines
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Complete Issue PDF
    • Archive
    • 20th Anniversary Special Edition
    • Topic/Program Collections
    • Blog
    • Questions from NeoReviews
  • CME/MOC
    • CME Quizzes
    • MOC Claiming
    • NeoReviewsPlus
    • Board Review Study Guide
  • Multimedia
    • NeoReviews Video Library
    • Pediatrics On Call Podcast
  • Subscribe
  • Alerts
  • Careers
American Academy of Pediatrics
Article

Nosocomial Infections in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Richard A. Polin and Lisa Saiman
NeoReviews March 2003, 4 (3) e81-e89; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/neo.4-3-e81
Richard A. Polin
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Lisa Saiman
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • Comments
Loading

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Download PDF
  • CONS: coagulase-negative staphylococci
  • ELBW: extremely low-birthweight
  • ESBL: extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing
  • G-CSF: granulocyte colony-stimulating factor
  • GM-CSF: granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor
  • HICPAC: Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee
  • IVIG: intravenous immune globulin
  • MRSA: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
  • MSSA: methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus
  • NICU: neonatal intensive care unit
  • RSV: respiratory syncytial virus
  • VRE: vancomycin-resistant enterococci
  • VREF: vancomycin-resistant Enterobacter faecium

Objectives

After completing this article, readers should be able to:

  1. List the primary pathogens involved in late-onset infections.

  2. List the major risk factors for nosocomial sepsis.

  3. Describe practices that can reduce the risk of nosocomial infections.

Introduction

Improvements in antenatal management and neonatal intensive care over the past 10 to 15 years have changed the prognosis for preterm infants. More than 85% of infants born at 25 weeks’ gestation now survive their preterm birth. This has resulted in a dramatic change in the populations of infants occupying neonatal intensive care beds. The average length of stay for a term or near-term infant who has surgical or respiratory problems is about 15 days; the length of stay for preterm infants born at 26 weeks’ gestation is more than 2 months. The duration of hospitalization is inversely related to gestational age.

The population of extremely low-birthweight (ELBW) infants who remain hospitalized for extended periods of time (and who undergo numerous invasive procedures) is most susceptible to nosocomial infections. Nosocomial infections are defined as those that occur beyond 48 hours after birth and are caused by pathogens that are not maternally derived. Such infections are 100 times more common than early-onset bacterial infections, which are caused by pathogens acquired in utero or perinatally. Recent data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-sponsored “Neonatal Network” indicated that 29% of infants born at 25 to 28 weeks’ gestation and 46% of infants born at less than 25 weeks’ gestation experience a serious nosocomial infection during hospitalization in the NICU.

The morbidity and mortality from nosocomial infections is enormous. In the United States, more than 2,000,000 nosocomial infections (in infants and adults) occur each year, and 50% to 60% are caused by resistant organisms. It has been estimated that 9,600 to 20,000 patients die each …

Individual Login

Log in
You will be redirected to aap.org to login or to create your account.

Institutional Login

via Institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your librarian or administrator if you do not have a username and password.

Log in through your institution

If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.

Offer Reprints

PreviousNext
Back to top

Advertising Disclaimer »

In this issue

NeoReviews
Vol. 4, Issue 3
1 Mar 2003
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
View this article with LENS
PreviousNext
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Academy of Pediatrics.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Nosocomial Infections in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Academy of Pediatrics
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Academy of Pediatrics web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Request Permissions
Article Alerts
Log in
You will be redirected to aap.org to login or to create your account.
Or Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation Tools
Nosocomial Infections in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Richard A. Polin, Lisa Saiman
NeoReviews Mar 2003, 4 (3) e81-e89; DOI: 10.1542/neo.4-3-e81

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Nosocomial Infections in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Richard A. Polin, Lisa Saiman
NeoReviews Mar 2003, 4 (3) e81-e89; DOI: 10.1542/neo.4-3-e81
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Print
Download PDF
Insight Alerts
  • Table of Contents

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Objectives
    • Introduction
    • Epidemiology and Microbiology
    • Bacterial Pathogens
    • Bloodstream and Catheter-related Bloodstream Infections
    • Respiratory Tract Infections
    • Strategies for Prevention of Nosocomial Sepsis
    • Handwashing/“Degerming”
    • Skin Antisepsis
    • Antibiotic Prophylaxis
    • Immunoprophylaxis
    • Quality Improvement
    • Suggested Reading
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • Comments

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Clinical features, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and genomics of bacteria causing neonatal sepsis in a childrens hospital in Vietnam: protocol for a prospective observational study
  • Clinical Microbiology of Bacterial and Fungal Sepsis in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Craniosynostosis: Neonatal Perspectives
  • Congenital Hyperinsulinism
  • Revisiting Skeletal Dysplasias in the Newborn
Show more Article

Similar Articles

Subjects

  • Infectious Disease
    • Infectious Disease
  • Journal Info
  • Editorial Board
  • Overview
  • Licensing Information
  • Authors/Reviewers
  • Author Guidelines
  • Submit My Manuscript
  • Librarians
  • Institutional Subscriptions
  • Usage Stats
  • Support
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Resources
  • Media Kit
  • About
  • NeoReviewsPlus
  • International Access
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Statement
  • FAQ
  • AAP.org
  • shopAAP
  • Follow American Academy of Pediatrics on Instagram
  • Visit American Academy of Pediatrics on Facebook
  • Follow American Academy of Pediatrics on Twitter
  • Follow American Academy of Pediatrics on Youtube
  • RSS
  • NeoReviews™ and NeoReviewsPlus™ are supported, in part, through an educational grant from Abbott Nutrition, a division of Abbott Laboratories, Inc.
American Academy of Pediatrics

© 2021 American Academy of Pediatrics