Genetics and late-onset septicemia in pre-term infants

Abstract

Using a retrospective cohort of twins born from 1994 to 2009 in NICUs in New Haven and Farmington, Connecticut, sepsis concordance rates were compared between 170 monozygotic and 665 dizygotic twin pairs. With caveats of limitations outlined by the authors, the findings suggest that approximately one-half of the variation in incidence of late-onset sepsis in pre-term infants is due to genetic factors. These findings will influence future research and will need to be considered in analysis of causation and prevention of late-onset sepsis.