Updating profile of bacterial infections of the newborn at Cocody Teaching Hospital in Abidjan

Introduction.-The aim of our study was to determine the clinical and bacteriological cha-racteristics of newborns admitted for suspected neonatal sepsis in the neonatal unit of theUniversity Hospital of Cocody.Method.-This was a prospective descriptive study referred performed from February 2010 toJuly 2010 and on 352 neonates admitted for suspected bacterial infection.Results.-Outborn represented 42.6% and were admitted before the 12th hour of life (43.5%).The sex ratio was 1.4. Infectious risk factors found were stained or foul amniotic fluid (26.1%),bad APGAR (23.5%) and maternal fever (22.4%). The main clinical signs were respiratory distress(41.2%), fever (37.2%) and cerebral pain (32.8%). The diagnosis of neonatal bacterial infectionhas been confirmed in 22.7% of cases. The most common germ in the cerebrospinal fluid wereStaphylococcus aureus (29.7%) and group B streptococci (22.2%) and, in the blood culture,S. aureus (54.2%) and Klebsiella sp. (16.9%). Third-generation cephalosporin and aminoglycosideantibiotics were used as first line. The result of susceptibility testing found no resistance trainsto betalactams and aminoglycosides unlike Klebsiella sp., which proved resistant to betalactamantibiotics. The mortality rate was 11.6%.Conclusion.-Bacterial infections of the newborn in the tropics have the following characte-ristics: high prevalence of S. aureus infection which means that efforts are needed to achieveaseptic and hospital hygiene; lack of routine screening for maternal portage of streptococcus Bin the last trimester of pregnancy and thus a lack of intrapartum prophylaxis; particular bacte-rial ecology which should discuss the choice and duration of antibiotics included in aminosides"monotherapy" that seems to be effective on most germs of the local ecology.