News Release

First estimates of newborns needing treatment for bacterial infection show 7 million cases

New study shows extent of neonatal infections in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America

Peer-Reviewed Publication

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Nearly 7 million babies in the first month of life (neonates) required treatment for severe bacterial infection in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America in 2012, according to a new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The estimates, which are the first of their kind, indicate the high burden of neonatal bacterial infections, which include sepsis, meningitis and pneumonia. Researchers developed the estimates to help guide health-programme planning for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

The new research follows the recent Lancet Every Newborn Series, and was overseen by Professor Joy Lawn, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Save the Children, and coordinated by Dr Anna Seale, at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya, with the Centre for Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford, involving 65 investigators from 46 different institutions around the globe.

The researchers looked at data from 22 studies, for 259,944 neonates with 20,196 cases of possible severe bacterial infection. Of the estimated 6.9 million babies in the first month of life who required treatment for possible severe bacterial infection, 3.5 million were in south Asia, 2.6 million in sub-Saharan Africa and 0.8 million in Latin America. These estimates do not include preterm babies under 32 weeks gestation, who are particularly susceptible to infection as a consequence of their prematurity.

Although the authors highlight the lack of data available for the study, they note that their estimate of 680,000 neonatal deaths associated with these infections is consistent with other estimates based on larger datasets, which supports the accuracy of their findings.

Based on their estimates, both the size of the need-to-treat population and the burden of severe bacterial infection on health-care systems is substantial in the regions they examined, and it reinforces the urgent need for more investment, innovation and action at all levels.

Prof Joy Lawn said: "Newborn deaths due to severe infection could be significantly reduced through highly cost-effective interventions such as prevention, including clean cord care and breastfeeding, innovations such as chlorhexidine cord cleansing as well as through treatment with antibiotics.

"The majority of babies with neonatal infections in sub Saharan Africa and south Asia do not even receive simple antibiotic therapy, although some countries are shifting to using community health workers to increase access to treatment. These measures are some of the crucial actions that countries will need to take in order to meet the target of ten or fewer neonatal deaths per 1000 live births in every country by 2035 as part of the United Nation's Secretary General's Every Newborn Action Plan"

The Action Plan will be launched on 30 June in Johannesburg by Graca Machel, Nelson Mandela's widow.

###

For more information or for interviews please contact the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine press office on +44 (0) 027 927 2802 or press@lshtm.ac.uk

To request an interview with Dr Anna Seale please email anna.seale@ndm.ox.ac.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. Anna C Seale, Hannah Blencowe, Alexander A Manu, Harish Nair, Rajiv Bahl, Shamim A Qazi, Anita K Zaidi, James A Berkley, Simon N Cousens, Joy E Lawn, for the pSBI Investigator Group. Estimates of possible severe bacterial infection in neonates in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and Latin America for 2012: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(14)70804-7

2. NOTE: IF YOU WISH TO PROVIDE A LINK TO THIS PAPER FOR YOUR READERS, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING, WHICH WILL GO LIVE WHEN THE EMBARGO LIFTS: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(14)70804-7/abstract

3. About the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public and global health, with 3,900 students and more than 1,000 staff working in over 100 countries. The School is one of the highest-rated research institutions in the UK, and was recently cited as the world's leading research-focused graduate school. Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice. The MARCH (Maternal, Adolescent, Reproductive & Child Health) Centre at the School brings together more than 100 researchers conducting multidisciplinary studies on family planning, infertility, growth and development during pregnancy, maternal morbidity, newborn health, nutrition, health systems and treatment for infectious disease in pregnancy and early life. http://www.lshtm.ac.uk

4. The KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme

The KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme aims to carry out research to the highest international scientific and ethical standards on major causes of morbidity and mortality in Africa; to build strong and sustainable internationally competitive, national and regional research capacity; to work in a way that facilitates integration and cross fertilisation of scientific disciplines; to conduct intervention research and basic research in parallel and to have a direct input to local and international health policy. http://www.kemri-wellcome.org/

5. The Centre for Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford

The Centre for Tropical Medicine is a collection of research groups within the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, who are permanently based in Africa and Asia. Our research ranges from clinical studies to behavioural sciences, with capacity building integral to all of our activities. The majority of our research is conducted at three Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programmes in Kenya, Thailand and Viet Nam. Tropical Medicine also brings together a number of sister groups in Laos, Tanzania, Indonesia and Nepal, and collaborators around the world. Tackling infectious diseases, which kill many millions of people every year, is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. We are researching solutions to the increasingly urgent problems these diseases cause. http://www.tropicalmedicine.ox.ac.uk/


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.