Dail, R.B.; Everhart, K.C.; Iskersky, V.; Chang, W.; Fisher, K.; Warren, K.; Steflik, H.J.; Hardin, J.W. Prenatal and Postnatal Disparities in Very-Preterm Infants in a Study of Infections between 2018–2023 in Southeastern US. Trop. Med. Infect. Dis.2024, 9, 70.
Dail, R.B.; Everhart, K.C.; Iskersky, V.; Chang, W.; Fisher, K.; Warren, K.; Steflik, H.J.; Hardin, J.W. Prenatal and Postnatal Disparities in Very-Preterm Infants in a Study of Infections between 2018–2023 in Southeastern US. Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2024, 9, 70.
Dail, R.B.; Everhart, K.C.; Iskersky, V.; Chang, W.; Fisher, K.; Warren, K.; Steflik, H.J.; Hardin, J.W. Prenatal and Postnatal Disparities in Very-Preterm Infants in a Study of Infections between 2018–2023 in Southeastern US. Trop. Med. Infect. Dis.2024, 9, 70.
Dail, R.B.; Everhart, K.C.; Iskersky, V.; Chang, W.; Fisher, K.; Warren, K.; Steflik, H.J.; Hardin, J.W. Prenatal and Postnatal Disparities in Very-Preterm Infants in a Study of Infections between 2018–2023 in Southeastern US. Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2024, 9, 70.
Abstract
Abstract: Background: The birthrate of Black preterm (BPT) infant is 65% higher than White preterm (WPT) infants with BPT mortality 2.3 times higher. The incidence of culture positive sepsis is as high as 41% in preterms. This study aimed to examine infections and mortality in BPTs and WPTs. Methods: We enrolled 362 preterms born < 32 weeks gestational age (GA) between 2019-2023 in 5 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)s to study onset of infections, and dispositions; RedCap data were analyzed for descriptive statistics. Results: 226 BPTs (63.5%) and 107 WPTs (30.8%) enrolled, with 29 other than White or Black, 50.5% female, mean GA of 27.67 weeks and 986.74 grams birthweight. Of 426 suspected infections evaluated in enrolled infants, there were 7 infants with early onset sepsis (EOS) and 39 infants with late onset sepsis (LOS). The incidence of EOS was 1.9% overall, 2.2% in BPTs vs 0.9% in WPTs. LOS incidence was 10.8% overall, 11.9% in BPTs and 9.3% in WPTs. Both BPT and WPT infants had ~ 8% gram-positive LOS events and 3% gram-negative LOS events; however, 82% of all gram-negative LOS episodes occurred in BPTs. There were 27 urinary tract infections and 78% were in BPTs. Two cerebral spinal fluid cultures were positive in BPTs. Necrotizing enterocolitis was diagnosed in 5.8% of the sample, with an incidence of 6.1% in BPTs versus 4.7% in WPTs. Death occurred in 6.0% of the enrolled infants with the rate of death being slightly higher in BPTs (7.0%) versus WPTs (5.6%). Conclusions: BPTs had a higher rate of positive cultures, double the gram-negative infections, a much higher rate of urinary tract infec-tions and a higher rate of mortality than their WPT counterparts. This study emphasizes higher risk of morbidity and mortality for BPTs.
Medicine and Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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