Research Article
Destaye Guadie Kassie, Abebe W
Abstract
Background: Neonatal Sepsis (NS) is the infection of neonates in the first 28 days of life. It is a severe infection of neonates that leads to death and life hindrance. NS is a major cause of infant mortality more overtly in developed and developing countries. In developing countries like Ethiopia, it causes30-50% of the neonatal deaths per year. Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of neonatal sepsis among neonates in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the University of Gondar specialized referral hospital, Gondar, northwest Ethiopia, 2019. Methods: An institution-based retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st February 2018 to 30 January 2019, and a total of 292 neonates included in the study. The systematic random sampling technique was used to select medical charts. The data was collected using the data extraction tool. Descriptive statistics like frequencies, and percentages, charts, and graphs, were computed.Logistic regeneration of Bi-variable, and multivariable analyses, were conducted. The interpretation, made with the adjusted odds ratio of p-values less than 0.05, with a 95% CI. Results: The prevalence of neonatal sepsis among neonates was 59% with a 95% CI (53.4-64.7). Age of neonates (AOR=2.48; 95%CI: (1.20-5.10)), PORM (AOR=2.97; 95%CI: (1.22-7.26)), Catheterization (AOR=1.95; 95%CI: (1.02-3.14)), Birth asphyxia (AOR=2.81; 95% CI: (1.14-6.93)) and Oxygen via mask (AOR=4.0; 95% CI: (1.2-13.9)) were statistically significant to neonatal sepsis. Conclusion and Recommendations: The prevalence of neonatal sepsis in the last one year in NICU at the University of Gondar specialized referral hospital was 59%. The most risk factors of neonatal sepsis were, identified as Age of neonates, PROM, catheterization, birth asphyxia, and oxygen via masks strongly associated with the prevalence of NS. Based on these results, we recommend the concerned body to focus on the prevention of risk factors rather than treating the disease after it occurs.