Table 3.
Umbilical cord infection by treatment group
| |
Infants |
Cases |
Person-time* |
Rate† |
IRR (95% CI)‡ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algorithm 1: Moderate or severe redness | |||||
| Chlorhexidine 4·0% | 4703 | 438 | 4236·1 | 10·3 | 0·68 (0·58−0·80) |
| Soap/water | 4884 | 660 | 4214·4 | 15·7 | 1·03 (0·87−1·22) |
| Dry cord care | 4859 | 638 | 4195·6 | 15·2 | 1·00 |
| Algorithm 2: Moderate or severe redness, with pus, or severe redness alone | |||||
| Chlorhexidine 4·0% | 4883 | 147 | 4675·8 | 3·1 | 0·46 (0·36−0·59) |
| Soap/water | 5029 | 280 | 4701·6 | 6·0 | 0·88 (0·69−1·12) |
| Dry cord care | 5021 | 315 | 4651·9 | 6·8 | 1·00 |
| Algorithm 3: Severe redness with pus | |||||
| Chlorhexidine 4·0% | 4930 | 13 | 4839·4 | 0·3 | 0·25 (0·12−0·53) |
| Soap/water | 5096 | 53 | 4962·3 | 1·1 | 1·01 (0·58−1·77) |
| Dry cord care | 5076 | 52 | 4929·6 | 1·1 | 1·00 |
*
Person-time expressed as neonatal periods (28 infant-days).
†
Incidence expressed as infections per 100 neonatal periods.
‡
Generalised estimating equations (Poisson distribution, log link function) were used to adjust point estimates and CIs for the cluster-randomised design.