perinatally no unexplained hyperbilirubinemia that required treatment no antibiotics since discharge no hospitalizations no chronic illness discharged at the same time or before the mother no evidence of skin, soft tissue, bone, joint, or ear infection White blood cells (WBCs) count 5,000-15,000/mm3 absolute band count ≤ 1,500/mm3 urine WBC count ≤ 10 per high power field (hpf) stool WBC count ≤ 5 per high power field (hpf) only in infants with diarrhea Those meeting these criteria likely do not require a lumbar puncture, and are felt to be safe for discharge home without antibiotic treatment, or with a single dose of intramuscular antibiotics, but will still require close outpatient follow-up. One risk for Group B streptococcal infection (GBS) is preterm rupture of membranes. Screening women for GBS (via vaginal and rectal swabbing) and treating culture positive women with intrapartum chemoprophylaxis is reducing the number of neonatal sepsis caused by GBS. Abnormal heart rate characteristics (HRC) of transient decelerations and reduced baseline variability in heart rate are a risk factor for impending neonatal sepsis. Diagnosis Neonatal sepsis screening: DLC (differential leukocyte count) showing increased numbers of polymorphs. DLC: band cells > 20%. increased haptoglobins. micro ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) titer > 15mm. gastric aspirate showing > 5 polymorphs per high power field. newborn CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) screen: showing increased cells and proteins. suggestive history of chorioamnionitis, PROM (premature rupture of membranes), etc... Culturing for microorganisms from a sample of CSF, blood or urine, is the gold standard test for definitive diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. This can give false negatives due to the low sensitivity of culture methods and because of concomitant antibiotic therapy. Lumbar punctures should be done when possible as 10-15% presenting with sepsis also have meningitis, which warrants an antibiotic with a high CSF penetration. CRP is not very accurate in picking up cases. Molecular assays can give faster result in diagnosis of neonatal sepsis than microbial culture from blood. Treatment Note that, in neonates, sepsis is difficult to diagnose clinically. They may be relatively asymptomatic until hemodynamic and respiratory collapse is imminent, so, if there is even a remote suspicion of sepsis, they are frequently treated with antibiotics empirically until cultures are sufficiently proven to be negative. In addition to fluid resuscitation and supportive care, a common antibiotic regimen in infants with suspected sepsis is a beta-lactam antibiotic (usually ampicillin) in combination with an aminoglycoside (usually gentamicin) or