Systemic Candida infection in preterm babies: Experience from a tertiary care hospital of North India

Abstract

Background: Neonatal fungal infection is an important cause of late-onset sepsis with very high mortality. The incidence is progressively increasing due to a marked improvement in the survival of low-birth weight neonates. Materials and Methods: This was a 2-year observational study. Very low-birth weight (VLBW) and extremely low-birth weight (ELBW) with suspected fungal sepsis were enrolled. All suspected neonates were evaluated for possible Candida infection. Complete clinicodemographic and laboratory profile was noted from the study participants. The main outcome measure was hospital incidence, clinical profile, and the frequency of end-organ involvement. Results: During the study, 304 ELBW and VLBW neonates were screened for invasive fungal sepsis. Sixty-four neonates were found positive for invasive Candida sepsis making the incidence of 11.6%. Majority of patients developed worsening of respiratory distress and shock. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) was seen in 10 patients and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in nine patients. Nearly 7.8% had cerebrospinal fluid culture positive for Candida. Renal abscess was seen in two patients. Endohpthalmitis and endocarditis each were observed in one patient. The mortality rate in our study group was 55%. Conclusion: We found 11.9% incidence of invasive fungal incidence. Majority of neonates developed worsening of respiratory distress, shock, NEC, DIC, and thrombocytopenia. End-organ damage was noticed in 14% of patients. Mortality was around 55% in our cohort.