Infectious Disease

Collaborating to improve the care and outcomes for infants with infections among quaternary NICUs

Introduction

The CHNC Infectious Disease Focus Group leads collaborative efforts in research and quality improvement around infections for infants admitted to CHNC NICUs.

Our focus group brings together experts in neonatal-perinatal medicine, infectious diseases, and pharmacy to improve knowledge around infections in CHNC NICUs. Infants in quaternary NICUs have a wide range of diagnoses and illness severity, and their hospital course is often associated with a high risk of infection. Infections, such as blood stream infections, meningitis, and surgical site infections, are significant causes of morbidity and mortality in this population. Infants in these NICUs are also frequently exposed to antimicrobial therapy, in response to proven infection, as well as due to concern for possible or presumed infections.

The Infectious Disease Focus Group ensures that ongoing data collection robustly captures accurate information around infections, in concordance with national surveillance guidelines. The group works to address knowledge gaps in infections by performing collaborative research to understand the epidemiology, risk factors, clinical characteristics and outcomes of bacterial, fungal and viral infections as well as antimicrobial use patterns in CHNC NICUs. Through this work, we will improve understanding of infections as well as clinician variability in diagnosis and management in CHNC NICUs. These efforts will aid in identifying targets for enhanced infection prevention and quality improvement strategies as well as antimicrobial stewardship in CHNC NICUs.

Focus Group Leaders

Michael Padula

MD, MBI
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Lakshmi Srinavasan

MD
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Meeting Schedule

Second Wednesday each month at 12:00 p.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. MT / 2:00 p.m. CT / 3:00 p.m. ET

Infectious Disease

Publications

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