Serious Bacterial Infections in Preterm Infants: Should Their Age Be "Corrected"?

J Clin Med

Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.

Published: May 2023

AI Article Synopsis

  • Adjusting the chronological age of preterm infants based on their gestational age is common in neurodevelopment, particularly when assessing for serious bacterial infections (SBI).
  • A study analyzed 448 preterm infants who presented to pediatric emergency departments, revealing that those with a corrected age below 3 months had a significantly higher incidence of SBI compared to those with corrected ages above 3 months.
  • The findings suggest that preterm infants with corrected ages under 3 months are at similar risk for SBI as term infants under 3 months, highlighting the need for age correction when evaluating febrile preterm infants.

Article Abstract

Adjusting the chronological age of preterm infants according to their gestational age is a widely accepted practice in the field of neurodevelopment. It has been suggested for the assessment of preterm infants with suspected infection, but has been poorly validated. Correcting for chronological age is especially critical in infants with a chronological age above 3 months, but a corrected age below 3 months due to the differences in assessment protocols. This study assessed the difference in incidence of serious bacterial infection (SBI) according to chronological and corrected age in preterm infants. A retrospective analysis of pediatric emergency department (PED) presentations was conducted for all 448 preterm infants born in between January 2010 and August 2019. Of the 448 preterm infants, 204 (46%) presented at one of 3 PEDs in Jerusalem, Israel, during their first year of life. Overall, 141 (31.4%) presented with fever and were included in the study. The infants were divided into 3 age groups: 1-corrected age >3 months; 2-chronological age >3 months, but corrected age <3 months; 3-chronological and corrected age <3 months. SBI was diagnosed in 2.6%, 16.7%, and 33.3% of the infants in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively; ( < 0.01, = 0.17, < 0.001). The incidence of SBI in the control group of 300 term infants <3 months presenting to the PED due to fever was 15.3%. Preterm infants with a corrected age <3 months are at increased risk for SBI, similarly to term infants <3 months of age. Age correction should thus be considered for preterm infants presenting with fever.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10178985PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm12093242DOI Listing

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