Neonatal bacterial septicaemia at the Mount Hope Women's Hospital, Trinidad

This retrospective study to determine the incidence of bacterial septicaemia in neonates at the Mount Hope Women's Hospital, Trinidad during a 2-year period, 1996 to 1997, included all neonates whose blood or cerebrospinal fluid cultured positive for bacteria. There were 9866 live births (LB), 102 of whom were diagnosed with bacterial sepsis, an incidence of 10/1000 LB. Thirty-one neonates had a positive culture for group B Streptococcus, an incidence of 3/1000 LB. Gram-negative organisms accounted for 63% of positive cultures. There were three outbreaks of nosocomial infection, two caused by Enterobacter spp with mortality rates of 37% and 50% and one outbreak caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa with a mortality rate of 25%. The overall mortality rate was 27% (27/102), 63% were boys and 58% were preterm. The incidence of neonatal bacterial sepsis of 10/1000 LB is the highest recorded for the Caribbean and indicates that infection might be an important cause of the high perinatal mortality rate.