Sepsis in premature infants

What it is

A rare systemic condition affecting neonates born at less than 37 weeks gestational age and characterized by life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to an infection, which may have been acquired shortly before or during birth (resulting in early-onset neonatal sepsis during the first 72 hours of life), or after birth (leading to late-onset neonatal sepsis between 72 hours and three months). Prematurity constitutes one of the primary risk factors for neonatal sepsis. The clinical picture may develop gradually with signs and symptoms like irritability, lethargy, or poor feeding, or progress rapidly to respiratory distress, fever, hypothermia, hypotension, shock, and multiple organ failure.

Key facts

Prevalence

1-5 / 10 000 (Europe)

Age of onset

Neonatal

Inheritance

Not applicable

Classified as

Particular clinical situation in a disease or syndrome

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references