Reduction in newborn screening metabolic false-positive results following a new collection protocol.

Purpose: Newborn screening includes testing for many metabolic diseases. False-positive results are higher among neonatal intensive care unit infants, resulting in increased confirmatory testing and family stress. Amino acid administration as a component of total parenteral nutrition is commonly used in the neonatal intensive care unit and suggested as a factor increasing false-positive results.

Nosocomial infection in neonates: inevitable or preventable?

In the neonatal intensive care unit population the nosocomial infection rate is highest in the lowest-birth-weight infants. It is this group of infants who require the most therapeutic interventions to support them leading to frequent invasive procedures and the longest exposure to the hospital environment. However, infection rates vary from one unit to another, suggesting that there are differences in either how infection rates are determined or the care provided in the various units.