Incidence and aetiology of infant Gram-negative bacteraemia and meningitis: systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: One in six infant deaths worldwide are caused by invasive bacterial infections, of which a substantial but unquantified proportion are caused by Gram-negative bacteria. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of studies published from 31 May 2010 to 1 June 2020 indexed in MEDLINE, Embase and Global Health databases. We performed meta-analyses of the incidence of Gram-negative bacteraemia and of individual Gram-negative species as proportions of all infant bacteraemia, stratified by onset (early vs late) and country income (low/middle vs high). RESULTS: spp (early-onset 3.93%, 95% CI 2.04% to 7.44%; late-onset 2.81%, 95% CI 1.99% to 3.95%). CONCLUSION: spp cause 20%-28% of early-onset infant bacteraemia and 14% cases of infant meningitis worldwide. Implementation of preventive measures could reduce the high incidence of Gram-negative bacteraemia in LMIC. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020191618.