hours of life. Approximately 1% of infants
will appear healthy at birth and then
develop signs of infection after a variable
time period.21 Every critically ill
infant should be evaluated and receive
empirical broad-spectrum antimicrobial
therapy after cultures, even when there
are no obvious risk factors for sepsis.
The greatest difficulty faced by clinicians
is distinguishing neonates with
early signs of sepsis from neonates
with noninfectious conditions with relatively
mild findings (eg, tachypnea with
or without an oxygen requirement). In
this situation, data are insufficient to
guide management