Background & Objectives: Respiratory viral infections in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Testing for viral pathogens is not routinely done in many NICUs. Their clinical presentations are unpredictable and on infant sepsis evaluation, bacterial cultures are frequently sterile. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of respiratory viral infections among neonates clinically diagnosed with sepsis using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Patients and Methods: A prospective study on 150 neonates (gestational age >28 weeks) without major malformation and central causes for respiratory distress admitted with neonatal sepsis clinically to Children hospital NICU, Ain Shams University, from January 2015 to December 2016. Neonates were selected by simple random method. PCR on nasopharyngeal secretions was done for 40 neonates whose blood cultures were negative.
Results: Sixteen neonates (40%) were PCR positive and 24 neonates (60%) were negative. Herpes simplex virus was the most frequently detected (25%) followed by adenovirus, rhinovirus, and enterovirus. No significant correlations were found between viral detection and any of clinical or laboratory data except the liver enzymes which were significantly higher in positive viral cases.
Conclusion: Prevalence of respiratory viruses was 40% of cases presented with clinical signs of neonatal sepsis. PCR is recommended for diagnosis of respiratory viral infections to improve management of sepsis cases and limit the unnecessary use of antibiotics.