Time to recovery and predictors of neonatal sepsis in Southwest Ethiopia, 2024

Neonatal sepsis, a life-threatening infection in newborns, claims far too many lives every year, especially in places like Ethiopia, where 29 out of every 1,000 babies don’t survive their first month. Understanding how quickly babies recover and what factors influence their recovery can save lives in resource-limited hospitals. We explored these questions at Metu Karl Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (MKCSH) in Southwest Ethiopia. We reviewed medical records of 512 newborns with sepsis admitted to MKCSH’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) from January 2022 to December 2023. Using tools like EpiData and Stata, we analyzed recovery times and identified key factors with survival analysis techniques, including Kaplan-Meier curves and Weibull regression. Of 522 records reviewed, 512 were included in the final analysis. Overall, 497 neonates (95.2%) recovered, with a median recovery time of 6 days (IQR: 5–7.5). But in the final Weibull regression model, leukopenia, Apnea, respiratory distress, poor feeding, late-onset sepsis, and clinically diagnosed meningitis were also associated with slower recovery. The high recovery rate and relatively short recovery time suggest that MKCSH’s NICU is providing effective care. Addressing the clinical factors identified here-particularly respiratory complications, meningitis, and feeding difficulties-could help further improve recovery outcomes for newborns with sepsis. Not applicable.