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A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), also known as an intensive care nursery (ICN), is an intensive care unit (ICU) specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. The NICU is divided into several areas, including a critical care area for babies who require close monitoring and intervention, an intermediate care area for infants ...
Preterm neonates usually have ineffective immune systems, due to decreased IgG antibodies and decreased complement activation. Additionally, preterm neonates require longer hospital admissions, including the placement of invasive devices that increase risk of infection. [citation needed] Maternal risk factors for neonatal infection include:
Testing for neonatal sepsis is done because of how little it physically presents itself in babies. Infants showing no signs of neonatal sepsis will have a sepsis workup done only if concerning factors are shown. Only a small percentage of infants will have a sepsis workup done. Of this small population only 3% to 8% will show positive cultures ...
Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAITP, NAIT, NATP or NAT) is a disease that affects babies in which the platelet count is decreased because the mother's immune system attacks her fetus' or newborn's platelets. A low platelet count increases the risk of bleeding in the fetus and newborn.
Preterm birth is the most common cause of perinatal mortality, causing almost 30 percent of neonatal deaths. [7] Infant respiratory distress syndrome, in turn, is the leading cause of death in preterm infants, affecting about 1% of newborn infants. [8] Birth defects cause about 21 percent of neonatal death. [7]
Neonatal tetanus (trismus nascentium) is a form of generalised tetanus that occurs in newborns. Infants who have not acquired passive immunity from an immunized mother are at risk. It usually occurs through infection of the unhealed umbilical stump, particularly when the stump is cut with a non-sterile instrument.
Retinopathy of Prematurity or ROP is a retinal vascular disease that affects premature and low birth weight infants. The lower the birth weight the greater the risk of developing ROP. Supplemental oxygenation and the lighting in neonatal units have also been linked to the development of ROP.
Newborn screening (NBS) is a public health program of screening in infants shortly after birth for conditions that are treatable, but not clinically evident in the newborn period. The goal is to identify infants at risk for these conditions early enough to confirm the diagnosis and provide intervention that will alter the clinical course of the ...