Healthcare-associated infections in the hospitalized neonate: a review.

Healthcare-associated infections in the neonatal intensive care unit add considerably to hospital stays and costs, and contribute to numerous adverse outcomes, including death. The relatively high prevalence of healthcare-associated infections among neonates is secondary to the newborn's underdeveloped immune system, the need for frequent invasive procedures, and generally prolonged hospitalization. Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) are the most common form of healthcare-associated infection, with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species (CONS) being the most commonly cultured microorganism. Interpretation of culture results in the setting of any suspected healthcare-associated infection can be made difficult by the possibility that a recovered organism represents a commensal contaminant, rather than an actual cause of infection. This is especially true in the case of a blood culture that grows CONS during evaluation for suspected CLABSI. This article provides an overview of the epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of healthcare-associated infections in the NICU.