[Epidemiological study on neonatal septicemia and meningitis in Belgium]

Epidemiological data were collected for 219 cases of neonatal septicaemia and/or meningitis. In two thirds of the cases the diagnosis was made in newborns aged 4 days or less. Risk factors related to the delivery, to the health status of the infant at birth and to pregnancy were mentioned respectively in 74, 63 and 36% of the cases. Half of the newborns given antibiotics in prophylaxis received an association of aminopenicillin and aminoside. In more than four fifths of the cases the bacterium was only isolated from blood. In newborns aged 4 days or less at the time of diagnosis, S. agalactiae was the most frequently isolated agent (50%). In newborns aged 5 days or more at the time of diagnosis, E. coli was the most frequent isolate (23%), followed by S. agalactiae and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (20%). The lethality was 18%. About three fourths of the children dying from the infection, died during the first week of life. For the children who did not die during their stay in hospital, the duration of hospitalization was longer than 4 weeks in 41%.