Chandigarh (March 7) : A Single Theme Workshop on Neonatal Sepsis will be held at the Advanced Pediatric Centre, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research on 8th and 9th March 2025. This will be conducted by the Newborn Unit, Department of Pediatrics.
The Workshop will be inaugurated by Prof Vivek Lal, the Director of PGIMER . The Chairperson of the Organizing Committee is Prof Praveen Kumar , the Organizing Secretary is Prof Sourabh Dutta, and the Joint Organizing Secretary is Dr Jogender Kumar. The other faculty of the workshop includes Prof Ramesh Agarwal and Dr M Jeeva Sankar from Delhi; Dr Nandkishor Kabra from Mumbai; Prof Pallab Ray (Retd.), Prof Ashwani Sood from Mulana; Prof Deepak Chawla, Prof Suksham Jain, and Dr Supreet Khurana from Government Medical College Chandigarh; and Prof Kanya Mukhopadhyay, Prof Venkataseshan, Dr Sajan Saini, Prof Manisha Biswal and Dr Harsimran Kaur from PGIMER.
“Neonatal sepsis”, or more simply “infection in a newborn baby” is one the commonest problems encountered by pediatricians. The statistics related to newborn infections are startling. In developing countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about one-third of newborn deaths are caused by severe infections. In low and middle-income countries, mortality among newborn babies with proven sepsis ranges from 30 to 50%.
The rates are even higher in newborn babies infected with gram-negative bacteria or bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics. In recent years, the increase in newborn infections that are resistant to all common antibiotics has become an alarming problem. In India, 50-80% of proven cases of newborn sepsis in hospitals are attributed to bugs that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. Because of the overuse of antibiotics, fungal infections in newborn babies is also on the rise.
Newborns are particularly vulnerable to infections because their immune systems are not fully developed. Their skin and mucous membranes are thinner, allowing easier access for microbes. Premature babies and low-birth weight babies often require unavoidable procedures, like taking blood samples and inserting canulas into their veins. These procedures further increase the risk of infection. Newborn babies could also acquire infections around the time of birth from the mother’s birth canal, if the mother’s bag of water had been ruptured for a long time or if she herself was harbouring an infection.
Major developments have taken place in the field of diagnosis and management of newborn infections. There is now very good data on the magnitude of the problem in Indian hospitals. The causes of transmission of microbes from mother to baby at birth have been elucidated. The standard blood culture, which is the “gold standard” for diagnosing infections, has also undergone refinement and modification to increase the yield of the test.
Newer methods of diagnosis and treatment based on sophisticated molecular biology techniques are available in many places.
Keeping all these factors in mind, the Neonatal Unit of the Department of Pediatrics decided to conduct a two-day workshop, devoted entirely to the theme of newborn infections. The delegates attending the workshop are all child specialists who have a special interest in newborn care. The first day of the workshop will cover all the different ways of diagnosing serious newborn infections, antibiotic treatment and good practices for preventing sepsis. The first day’s proceedings will also include three practical mini-workshops on how to perform common practical procedures in newborn infants while using an aseptic non-touch technique.
Training mannequins of newborn infants will be used. The second day’s proceedings would be devoted to infections in specific organs like the brain and urinary tract, fungal infections, antibiotic resistance and how to rationalise the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. The second day’s proceedings will also include 3 case discussions of actual patients with various types of sepsis.
Useful measures that lay people can adopt to prevent newborn infections will also be discussed. These include exclusive breast feeding for the first 6 months of life, keeping the baby warm, handling the baby with clean washed hands, washing hands after handling soiled nappies, preventing infected persons from getting too close to the baby and taking a pregnant mother immediately to the hospital if she develops premature labour pains or her bag of waters ruptures before pains start. Signs in the newborn that should alert the parents that there could be an infection include lethargy, poor feeding, fever, cold to touch, rapid breathing, indrawing of the chest, blueness, convulsions, diarrhea, repeated vomiting, distension of the abdomen and bleeding without an injury. A baby who has any such sign must be shown to a doctor immediately. Early treatment can save many precious lives.
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