Discussion
Principal findings
This study shows that most clinical symptoms in isolation have only moderate predictive value for identifying LOS inpreterm infants suspected for infection. The strongest predic- tive signs were: increased respiratory support, capillary refill time >2 s, pallor or grey skin colour and a central venous catheter in 24 h preceding the onset of suspected infection.
Combining several clinical signs in a nomogram aug- ments the predictive value for identifying LOS. This nomo- gram allows users to calculate an expected risk of LOS in an individual patient with suspected infection, based on the specific profile of the patient.