Neonatal sepsis is a life-threatening disease with an incidence of 1 to 10 per 1000 livebirths, and a mortality rate of 15% to 50% (Remington JS & Klein JO 1990).
The clinical signs of neonatal sepsis are nonspecific and indistinguishable from those caused by a variety of neonatal noninfective disorders, such as aspiration syndrome, maladaptation, and respiratory distress syndrome (RD5). It is therefore recommended for all neonates who develop these signs to start empirical antimicrobial therapy (Remington JS & Klein JO 1995).