• Alicia Rose Jones, Carl Kuschel, Susan Jacobs, and Lex W Doyle.
• The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• J Paediatr Child Health. 2012 Oct 1; 48 (10): 891-5.

AimsThe aims of this study were to compare rates of late-onset sepsis (LOS) in very preterm or very low birthweight infants before and after relocation to a new nursery and to determine risk factors for LOS.MethodsThe study was undertaken at The Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, which relocated to a new site in June 2008. Infants with birthweight <1500 g or <32 weeks' gestation, born between July and December 2007 (n= 149) and July and December 2008 (n= 152) were included. Each septic episode was identified from blood cultures taken from patients >48 h after birth and was categorised as definite, probable, uncertain or no sepsis.ResultsOverall, 117 infants had 218 septic episodes. The proportion of infants with clinical LOS decreased from 29.5% in 2007 to 22.4% in 2008 after the relocation, although this was not statistically significant. There was a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in the severity (definite LOS = most severe) of sepsis in 2008 compared with 2007, and in rates of coagulase-negative staphylococcal LOS. Significant risk factors for LOS were: lower birthweight (g; mean -351, 95% confidence interval (CI) -446, -256); lower gestational age (weeks; mean -2.3, 95% CI -2.8, -1.7) and presence of a percutaneous inserted central catheter (odds ratio (OR) 2.56, 95% CI 1.03, 6.67).ConclusionsThere was a significant reduction in the severity of LOS in very preterm and/or very low birthweight infants that correlated with the relocation from the old to new nursery. Smaller and more immature infants with percutaneous central catheters were more at risk.© 2012 The Authors. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2012 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

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