Global divergence from WHO treatment guidelines for neonatal and paediatric sepsis

Abstract : We used data from 2 global point prevalence surveys of antibiotic prescribing to describe the treatment of sepsis in hospitalized neonates and children. One hundred eighty-five of 824 neonates (22.5%) and 9/786 children (1.1%) received a World Health Organization-recommended first-line treatment; of the remainder, 9/639 neonates (1.4%) and 102/777 children (13.1%) received a World Health Organization-recommended second-line treatment. Reasons for this low adherence to guidance should be explored.