The following is a summary of “Following Birth Hospitalization: Invasive Bacterial Infections in Preterm Infants Aged 7-90 Days,” published in the JANUARY 2023 issue of Pediatrics by Greenhow, et al.
For a study, researchers aimed to determine the incidence rate of invasive bacterial infections in preterm infants and compare it with that of full-term infants between 7-90 days of age.
The research was a retrospective cohort study, which included all infants born at Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2017, who had blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures collected between 7 and 90 days of chronological age from outpatient clinics, emergency departments, or within the first 24 hours of hospitalization. The study analyzed the incidence rates of invasive bacterial infections by chronological age and postmenstrual age (PMA) and the pathogens that caused them in preterm and full-term infants.
During the study period, 479,729 infants were born at KPNC, including 440,070 full-term infants and 39,659 preterm infants. The incidence rate of invasive bacterial infections was significantly higher in preterm infants than in full-term infants. The study found that the highest incidence rates of invasive bacterial infection in preterm infants were at chronological age 7-28 days and/or 37-39 weeks PMA. There was a trend toward lower rates of invasive bacterial infection with increasing PMA in preterm infants aged 61-90 days. Preterm infants aged 29-60 days or at ≥40 weeks PMA and those aged 61-90 days or at ≥43 weeks PMA had a rate of invasive bacterial infection equivalent to the overall rate seen in full-term infants of the same chronological age group.
The study found that PMA and chronological age together were more useful than either alone in informing the incidence rate of invasive bacterial infection in preterm infants during the first 90 days of life. Finally, the distribution of pathogens causing bacteremia and meningitis did not differ between preterm and full-term infants.