title: Necrotising enterocolitis in preterm infants: epidemiology and antibiotic consumption in the Polish neonatology network neonatal intensive care units in 2009.
abstract: The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), antibiotic consumption and the usefulness of microbiological tests in very low birth weight (VLBW) Polish newborns.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective surveillance was performed in the year 2009 by local infection control teams. The study covered 910 infants hospitalized in six Polish neonatal intensive care units. Two kinds of indicators were used for the description of antibiotic usage: the duration of treatment (days of treatment, DOTs) and the defined daily dose (DDD).
  
  
  RESULTS
  NEC incidence was 8.7% and fatality rate was 19%. Chorioamnionitis, late gestational age and low birth weight were identified as risk factors for NEC. Catheterization, mechanical ventilation and other selected procedures were used considerably longer in newborns with NEC than in the remaining neonates. Total usage of antibiotics reached 2.9 DDDs or 1.437 days; the average use of drugs per case of NEC amounted to 0.47 DDD or 23.2 DOTs. The level of antibiotic usage was analysed with correlation to microbiological tests performed and it was non-significantly greater in the group of children with NEC in whom the tests were performed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high risk of developing NEC is closely associated with VLBW and with inflammation of the amnion during labour. We observed no relationship between the consumption of antibiotics in neonates with NEC and positive results of microbiological testing indicating sepsis accompanying NEC or gut colonization with pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Microbiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Jadwiga
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wójkowska-Mach
authors.affiliation: Chair of Microbiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Różańska
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Neonatology and Intensive Neonatal Care, Warsaw Medical University, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borszewska-Kornacka
authors.affiliation: Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Gliwice, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Domańska
authors.affiliation: Chair and Department of Neonatology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Janusz
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gadzinowski
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Neonatology, Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital-Research Institute, Łódź, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gulczyńska
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Neonatology and Intensive Neonatal Care, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Helwich
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatal Diseases, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kordek
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Neonatology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Dorota
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pawlik
authors.affiliation: Chair and Department of Neonatology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szczapa
authors.affiliation: Chair of Microbiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Heczko
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D011044:Poland; D011446:Prospective Studies; D062486:Public Health Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents