A new
UCLA study shows that ‘time matters’ when treating fungal infections in neonates and that earlier treatment can mean the difference between life and death.
The findings, being presented May 1 at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif., concluded that while mortality rates in neonates were comparable regardless of the location of the infection, the likelihood of death increased with each day there was a delay in starting antifungal therapy after the first positive culture.
“Fungal infections are an emerging health threat in neonates and more research is needed to learn how to effectively treat them. Traditionally, since fungal infections are considered ‘slow-moving,’ the standard protocol has been to wait for the laboratory results before starting treatment,” explained Dr. Heather Cahan, neonatology Fellow at UCLA’s Mattel Children’s Hospital. “There is already a known association between the delay of starting antifungal treatment and mortality in adults. We wanted to investigate how long physicians are waiting to start therapy in neonates, and if it adversely affects the baby’s outcome.”
UCLA researchers conducted a retrospective study of neonatal invasive fungal infections at a single neonatal intensive care unit from 1998 to 2002. They examined the histories of 68 patients with 77 episodes of clinical sepsis in which a fungal pathogen was isolated from blood, urine, fluid around the abdomen or lungs, or breathing tube. The overall mortality rate was 34 percent.