Question
The newborn’s body temperature rose to about 38.5 degrees on the second day after birth, and they were transferred to pediatric treatment. Blood tests did not show any abnormalities, only slight jaundice. The doctor diagnosed it as pneumonia and jaundice and suggested blue light therapy, but it was not implemented. On the fourth day, blood tests confirmed sepsis, possibly accompanied by purulent meningitis. After consulting with a Guangzhou doctor, it was learned that sepsis was caused by umbilical cord infection and no obvious pneumonia symptoms were present.
Answer
Neonatal sepsis can be accompanied by symptoms such as jaundice, lung infection, and fever, with the main treatment method being antibiotic anti-infection therapy. Jaundice is one of the symptoms but not the cause of sepsis. The pathways of sepsis are diverse, with umbilical cord infection being just one of them. It is difficult to determine the source of sepsis based solely on clinical manifestations, unless there are obvious signs of umbilical cord inflammation, and the bacterial culture results from blood and umbilical cord secretions are consistent.