Determinants and Magnitude of Neonatal Sepsis at Hiwot Fana Comprehensive Specialized University Hospital, Harar, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

IntroductionNeonatal sepsis is a serious blood bacterial infection in neonates at the age of equal to or less than 28 days of life, and its still the major significant cause of death and long-term morbidity in developing countries. Therefore, this study has assessed the prevalence and related factors with neonatal sepsis among new born admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at Hiwot Fana Comprehensive Specialized University Hospital, Harar, Ethiopia. MethodsAn institutional based retrospective cross-sectional study design was conducted among 386 neonates admitted to NICU from September 2017 to August 2019 G.C. A systematic random sampling method was used. Data was analyzed using SPSS V.26. Descriptive summary statistics was done. Bivariate analysis was computed to identify association between dependent and independent variables. Multivariate analysis was used to control possible confounder variables and variables with p-value <0.05 were declared as having statistically significant association. ResultThe prevalence of neonatal sepsis was 53.1% and 59.5% were males. Among the total neonates who had sepsis, 67.8% had early neonatal sepsis. Among neonatal factors, preterm neonates (AOR: 8.1, 95%CI: 2.1, 31.2), birth asphyxia (AOR: 4.7, 95%CI: 1.6, 13.6); and among maternal factors, urban residence (AOR: 0.26, 95%CI: 0.1, 0.5), ANC attendance (AOR: 0.32, 95%CI: 0.2, 0.6), SVD (AOR: 0.047, 95%CI: 0.01, 0.2), Maternal antibiotic use (AOR: 0.39; 95%CI: 0.2, 0.8), duration of rupture of membrane < 12 hours (AOR: 0.11; 95%CI: 0.05, 0.2) were found to have significant association with neonatal sepsis. ConclusionOverall, the magnitude of neonatal sepsis was high. Being preterm, low birth weight and having birth asphyxia were found to significantly increase the odds of neonatal sepsis. Urban residence, having ANC follow up, giving birth by SVD and CS, history of antibiotic use and having rupture of membrane < 18 hours were found to significantly decrease the odds of neonatal sepsis.