Table 2.
Characteristics of 65 cases of EOS ≤7 days
| SRC (n=20) | NICE (n=45) | P value | |
| Gestational age, weeks, mean (SD) | 38.9 (1.7) | 40.1 (7.4) | 0.43 |
| Birth weight, g, mean (SD) | 3156 (562) | 3255 (436) | 0.45 |
| Male, n (%) | 8 (40) | 24 (53) | 0.33 |
| Vaginal delivery, n (%) | 4 (20) | 25 (56) | 0.008 |
| Highest maternal antepartum temperature, median (IQR)* | 37.6 (36.9–38.3) | 37.3 (36.8–37.6) | 0.32 |
| Maternal GBS status, n (%)† | |||
| Unknown | 9 (47) | 15 (35) | 0.38 |
| Positive | 3 (16) | 17 (40) | 0.07 |
| Negative | 7 (37) | 11 (26) | 0.39 |
| Rupture of membranes, hours, median (IQR)‡ | 12 (8.3–24) | 16 (2.8–32) | 0.28 |
| Maternal antibiotics, n (%)§ | |||
| No antibiotics or any <2 hours prior to birth | 16 (84) | 30 (75) | 0.44 |
| GBS-specific antibiotics >2 hours prior to birth | 0 | 3 (7.5) | 0.22 |
| Broad spectrum antibiotics 2–3.9 hours prior to birth | 3 (16) | 4 (10) | 0.51 |
| Broad spectrum antibiotics >4 hours prior to birth | 0 | 3 (7.5) | 0.22 |
| Initial hospital stay | |||
| Assigned postnatal care and never admitted to neonatal unit, n (%) | 7 (35) | 24 (53) | 0.18 |
| Assigned postnatal care and later admitted to neonatal unit, n (%) | 5 (25) | 11 (24) | 0.93 |
| Admitted to neonatal unit from birth centre, n (%) | 8 (40) | 11 (24) | 0.19 |
| Age at blood culture, hours, median (IQR) | 3.7 (2.1–9.2) | 2.6 (1.5–8.9) | 0.45 |
| Age at antibiotics, hours, median (IQR) | 3.7 (2.5–9.2) | 2.6 (1.5–8.7) | 0.76 |
| Clinical signs at birth, n (%)¶ | 10 (53) | 11 (26) | 0.04 |
| Developed signs before discharge, n (%)¶ | 6 (32) | 14 (33) | 0.94 |
| Never had clinical signs, n (%) | 3 (16) | 17 (40) | 0.07 |
| CSF culture positive, n (%)** | 1 (5) | 2 (4.7) | 0.96 |
| CSF white cell count >20, n (%)** | 1 (5) | 3 (7) | 0.76 |
| Death, n (%) | 0 | 1 (2.2) | 0.50 |
| EOS Score at birth, median (IQR) | 2.0 (0.14–7.8) | – | – |
*Highest maternal antepartum temperature missing for SRC 4, NICE 25 infants.
†Maternal GBS status missing for SRC 1, NICE 2 infants.
‡Rupture of membrane timing missing for SRC 4, NICE 16 infants.
§Maternal antibiotics missing for SRC 1, NICE 5 infants.
¶Timing of clinical signs missing for SRC 1, NICE 3 infants.
**CSF not obtained for SRC 1, NICE 3 infants.
CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; EOS, early-onset sepsis; GBS, group B Streptococcus; IQR, Interquartile range; NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; SD, Standard deviation; SRC, Sepsis Risk Calculator.