Prevalence of Sepsis among Iranian Newborns with Jaundice: A Meta-Analysis Based on Cross-Sectional Studies

Abstract

Background: Jaundice is a common life-threatening disease in the neonates. Several factors play a role in the etiology of jaundice. Sepsis is a possible cause of jaundice after blood group incompatibility. Bacterial infection and jaundice may be associated with higher morbidity. To date there exists no systematic review and meta-analysis that evaluated the Prevalence of sepsis in Iranian newborns with jaundice. Thus, in this study we evaluated the prevalence of sepsis among Iranian newborns with jaundice. Methods: A comprehensive literature search in Persian and English was performed on PubMed, Web of Sciences, Scopus, Google Scholar, Magiran and Scientific Information Database (SID) till July 2021. Data analysis was done by CMA version 2.0 software. Results: A total of eight publications with 4434 newborns with jaundice out of approximately 105 retrieved articles were selected. 211 neonates had sepsis. Pooled data revealed that the overall prevalence of sepsis among Iranian newborns with jaundice was 4.7% (95% CI 0.041-0.202, P ≤ 0.001) and there was no publication bias. Conclusion: This study showed that the prevalence of sepsis among Iranian newborns with jaundice was 4.7% and sepsis was a plausible reason of unexplained Hyperbilirubinemia among newborns with jaundice. To better understand the relationship between jaundice and sepsis, more studies with large sample sizes are needed.