Question
The baby has jaundice after birth, and then pneumonia appears again. The doctor ruled out sepsis. What is neonatal sepsis?
Answer
When a baby is born with jaundice, lung infection, and fever, we must be highly vigilant about neonatal sepsis, which can severely threaten the child’s life. Treatment primarily involves anti-infection (using antibiotics); jaundice is just a symptom of the disease (such as sepsis), so it is not the jaundice that causes sepsis. Neonatal sepsis can occur in various ways, with the umbilical cord being one of them. Unless there is clear evidence of umbilical inflammation (pus, odor, redness), and the umbilical secretion and blood culture are the same bacteria, it is difficult to determine sepsis caused by umbilical cord infection without clear evidence.