Patient demographics*
| Total cohort n=229 | Sepsis cohort n=140† | P value | |
| Characteristic | Median (IQR), or N (%) | Median (IQR), or N (%) | |
| Sex | |||
| Male | 112 (50.22) | 66 (47.48) | 0.369 |
| Female | 111 (49.78) | 73 (52.52) | |
| Location on admission | |||
| NICU | 46 (23.12) | 35 (28.46) | 0.023 |
| Premature unit | 45 (22.61) | 32 (26.02) | |
| Nutritional unit | 22 (11.06) | 10 (8.13) | |
| Full-term unit | 71 (35.68) | 36 (29.27) | |
| Isolation | 2 (1.01) | 2 (1.63) | |
| Overflow | 1 (0.50) | 1 (0.81) | |
| 4G maternity floor | 12 (6.03) | 7 (5.69) | |
| Birth weight | |||
| Extremely low birth weight (<1000 g) | 20 (8.77) | 15 (10.71) | 0.007 |
| Very low birth weight (1000–<1500 g) | 54 (23.68) | 42 (30.00) | |
| Low birth weight (1500–<2500 g) | 60 (26.32) | 35 (25.00) | |
| Normal birth weight (≥2500 g) | 94 (41.23) | 48 (34.29) | |
| Gestational age | |||
| <28 weeks | 24 (10.67) | 17 (12.32) | 0.002 |
| 28–<32 weeks | 50 (22.22) | 40 (28.99) | |
| 32–≤37 weeks | 62 (27.56) | 34 (24.64) | |
| ≥38 weeks | 89 (39.56) | 47 (34.06) | |
| Born at home | |||
| Yes | 10 (4.93) | 6 (4.88) | 1 |
| No | 193 (95.07) | 117 (95.12) | |
| Delivery type | |||
| Vaginal | 146 (66.67) | 87 (65.41) | 0.662 |
| C-section | 73 (33.33) | 46 (34.59) | |
| HIV exposure | |||
| Yes | 46 (21.4) | 30 (22.56) | 0.732 |
| No | 169 (78.6) | 103 (77.44) | |
| HIE | |||
| No | 174 (75.98) | 102 (72.86) | 0.205 |
| Yes | 55 (24.02) | 38 (27.14) | |
| Congenital abnormality | |||
| No | 217 (94.76) | 133 (95) | 1 |
| Yes | 12 (5.24) | 7 (5) | |
| Blood culture sent | |||
| No | 66 (32.84) | 26 (20.63) | 0.001 |
| Yes | 135 (67.16) | 100 (79.37) | |
| Blood culture positive | |||
| No | 110 (84.62) | 82 (85.42) | 0.783 |
| Yes | 20 (15.38) | 14 (14.58) | |
| Maternal illness at time of delivery | |||
| No | 197 (92.49) | 118 (90.77) | 0.293 |
| Yes | 16 (7.51) | 12 (9.23) | |
| Critical illness‡ | |||
| No | 157 (68.56) | 91 (65) | 0.189 |
| Yes | 72 (31.44) | 49 (35) | |
| Outcome | |||
| Survived | 139 (67.15) | 75 (61.98) | <0.001 |
| Infectious death | 25 (12.08) | 24 (19.83) | |
| Non-infectious death | 13 (6.28) | 6 (4.96) | |
| Unclear cause of death | 9 (4.35) | 6 (4.96) | |
| Transfer | 21 (10.14) | 10 (8.26) | |
| Clinical pathway available | |||
| No | 44 (22) | 3 (2.27) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 156 (78) | 129 (97.73) | |
| Sepsis pathway followed | |||
| No | 12 (17.39) | 12 (17.39) | |
| Yes | 57 (82.61) | 57 (82.61) | |
| Drug shortage | |||
| No | 178 (94.18) | 104 (92.04) | 0.204 |
| Yes | 11 (5.82) | 9 (7.96) | |
*Missing data excluded. Fisher’s exact test used for p value.
†Early-onset sepsis n=21 (15%); late-onset sepsis n=119 (85%).
‡Defined as being admitted to the ICU section of the NNU and/or having a code event in the first 24 hours of admission.
C-section, caesarean section; HIE, hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy; ICU, intensive care unit; NICU, neonatal intensive care unit; NNU, neonatal unit.