Our study aimed to assess the severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in hospitalized infants under 40 days old, across 21 Belgian hospitals between 2020 and 2022. Of the 365 infants studied, 14.2% needed respiratory support.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVery high unconjugated bilirubin plasma concentrations in neonates (neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia; NH) may cause neurologic damage (kernicterus). Both increased red blood cell turn-over and immaturity of hepatic glucuronidation contribute to neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia. The incidence of NH requiring phototherapy during the first week of life on the Thailand-Myanmar border is high (approximately 25%).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPopulation risks for neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia (NH) vary. Knowledge of local risks permits interventions that may reduce the proportion becoming severe. Between January 2015 and May 2016, in a resource-limited setting on the Thailand-Myanmar border, neonates from 28 weeks' gestation were enrolled into a prospective birth cohort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To describe neonatal survival and long-term neurological outcome in neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia (NH) with extreme serum bilirubin (SBR) values.
Design: Retrospective chart review, a one-off neurodevelopmental evaluation.
Setting: Special care baby unit in a refugee camp and clinics for migrant populations at the Thailand-Myanmar border with phototherapy facilities but limited access to exchange transfusion (ET).
Objectives: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) was believed to have minimal impact on pregnancy outcomes apart from the risk of perinatal transmission. In more recent years, there have been reports of adverse associations, most consistently preterm birth (PTB), but this is in the context of high rates of caesarean section. The aim of this study was to explore the association of HBV on pregnancy outcomes in marginalized, low-income populations on the Myanmar-Thailand border.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScreening and monitoring serum bilirubin (SBR) in neonates is crucial to prevent neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (NH)-associated morbidity and mortality worldwide. A lack of resources is often a barrier for measuring SBR in developing countries. Reliable, cost-effective, easy to use point-of-care (POC) SBR tests are needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is an inherited enzymatic disorder associated with severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and acute haemolysis after exposure to certain drugs or infections. The disorder can be diagnosed phenotypically with a fluorescent spot test (FST), which is a simple test that requires training and basic laboratory equipment. This study aimed to assess the diagnostic performances of the FST used on umbilical cord blood by locally-trained staff and to compare test results of the neonates at birth with the results after one month of age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study aims to identify risk factors and the neurodevelopmental impact of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in a limited-resource setting among a refugee and migrant population residing along the Thai-Myanmar border, an area with a high prevalence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficiency.
Methods: This is an analytic, observational, prospective birth cohort study including all infants of estimated gestational age equal to or greater than 28 weeks from mothers who followed antenatal care in the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit clinics. At birth, a series of clinical exams and laboratory investigations on cord blood will be carried out.