Patient and prescriber factors and the prolongation of antibiotics after birth in infants less than 29 weeks.

Objective: The objective of this study is to delineate whether patient-related or prescriber-related factors account for the prolongation of antibiotic therapy beyond 48 h in premature infants whose initial blood cultures are negative.

Methods: Retrospective review of infants born <29 weeks born between January 2011 and December 2012. Infants who had positive blood cultures or who died in the first 48 h were excluded from analysis.