Table 1.

Characteristics of neonatal sepsis

	Early-onset neonatal sepsis The first three days of life	Late-onset neonatal sepsis 4th-30th day	Very late-onset neonatal sepsis
Risk factors	Frequently present	Generally absent	Variable
Mode of transmission	Vertical, generally through the maternal genital canal	Vertical or from the environment postnatally	From the environment
Clinical characteristics	Fulminant course, multiorgan involvement	Insidious or acute, Focal infection Meningitis is frequent	Insidious
Mortality	5-20%	5%	Low
Causative Agents	GBS	Coagulase negative	Coagulase negative
	E. Coli	staphylococci	staphylococci
	Viridans streptococci Enterococci	S. Aureus,	S. Aureus
	Coagulase negative staphylococci	Candida	Candida
	S. Aureus	E. Coli	E. Coli
	Haemophilus influenza	Enterococci	Klebsiella
	Listeria monocytogenes	Klebsiella	Pseudomonas
	Klebsiella	Pseudomonas
		GBS
		L. Monocytogenes

GBS: group B streptococci