Risk factors for late-onset neonatal sepsis: a narrative review

Abstract

Objective: To understand the main risk factors for late-onset sepsis that affect newborns. Review bibliography: Neonatal sepsis be divided into two categories: early sepsis, acquired in the first 72 hours of life, and late-onset sepsis, also known as hospital sepsis, which occurs after 72 hours. Thus, late-onset neonatal sepsis often occurs through horizontal transmission, environmental or nosocomial factors. The main documented factors are the use of a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC), parenteral nutrition, mechanical ventilation, use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, invasive monitoring, use of an incubator, length of stay of more than 21 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the use of H2 receptor blockers. Final considerations: Considering its severity, the importance of understanding in a detailed and systematic way the main risk factors for the occurrence of sepsis, during hospitalization in the NICU and outside it, is evident, considering that, in addition to all the complex pathophysiology, it is also associated with neurocognitive sequelae that will affect development and a high rate of morbidity and mortality.