Prevalence of Neonatal Septicemia in Karbala Pediatric Teaching Hospital and Al-alwiyah Pediatric Teaching Hospital, Iraq

Abstract

Background: Neonatal sepsis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and especially in
developing countries. The incidence of neonatal septicemia varies widely between the developed world and
developing countries. Methods: The data was collected from the records of the Department during period
(February 2019- December 2020). incubated blood culture at 37°C for 7 days. Subcultures were done onto
blood agar and MacConkey agar plates. Results: Clinical feature of neonatal septicemia as Fever 31(67%);
Feeding difficulty 22 (48 %); both Jaundice and Lethargy as 9(19.5%); also, Diarrhea 7(15%); Skin rash
6(13%) and Meningitis 3(6.5%).so current results showed male with positive bacterial culture (69.5%) when
compare with Female (30.5%), Among a total of 46 bacterial isolates recovered, 34 (74%) were Gramnegative
isolates more than Gram-positive isolates 12 (26%) , so among a total of 46 bacterial isolates
recovered, E.coli were recovered from the cases as (24%) followed by both Klebsiella pneumoniae and
Pseudomonas as (13.5%), So Citrobacter species and Proteus mirabilis as (8.5%) , and Strep pneumonia
and Staphylococcus aureus were recovered from a single case , Staphylococcus epidermedis (7 cases - 15%).
Conclusions: Most clinical feature of neonatal septicemia as Fever; Feeding difficulty; and Jaundice and
Lethargy, so the male with positive bacterial culture more than Female as well as gram negative bacteria is
more common septicemia children with predominant of E.coli .