# Early-onset newborn sepsis

Condition · id `maternal:early-onset-neonatal-sepsis` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public)

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Also called: Early-onset neonatal sepsis; EOS

Browse, life stage: Newborn  
Browse, care area: Preterm and sick newborns  

## In plain language

A serious infection in the first days of life. A 2014 review calls early-onset sepsis a common and serious problem for newborns, especially preterm babies. Group B streptococcus is the most common cause, while E. coli is the most common cause of death. MedlinePlus describes sepsis in general as the body's overactive and extreme response to an infection.

## Technical summary

Review abstract (Clinical Microbiology Reviews 2014; PubMed abstract only) plus the MedlinePlus sepsis page, which is about sepsis in general, not newborns; it lists children younger than one among those more likely to develop it. The review says maternal intrapartum antimicrobial prophylaxis has substantially reduced group B streptococcus disease but has been associated with more Gram-negative infections, especially in very-low-birth-weight infants; that diagnosis rests on clinical presentation, nonspecific markers (C-reactive protein and procalcitonin where available), blood cultures and molecular methods; and that empirical treatment should follow local resistance patterns but typically uses ampicillin and gentamicin, or ampicillin and cefotaxime if meningitis is suspected, until the cause is found. The risk calculator page covers one risk-based approach for infants born at 35 weeks or later.

## Connected pages

- Risk assessment after birth (existing page): Care of the newborn in the first days (`maternal:essential-newborn-care`)
- Filed under this front: Screening and tests (`maternal:front-screening-and-tests`)
- Related to: Neonatal early-onset sepsis calculator (`maternal:neonatal-eos-calculator`)
- Related to: Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP) (`maternal:roadmap-every-newborn-action-plan`)

## Provenance

Content hash: 8ddbd030f39ee35688be4c0a33af85afa29f3cad04f7772276f5a9248bdb4be8
Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15
Evidence last checked: 2026-10-15