9 May 2022

The number of newborn babies dying from neonatal sepsis is rising as the antibiotics used to treat them are not working effectively, a landmark international study has found. Neonatal sepsis is a life-threatening bloodstream infection that affects up to three million babies a year globally.

The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and partners recently released their findings showing that antibiotic resistance to bacterial infections, and the increased use of broader-spectrum antibiotics have led to high levels of mortality and neurodevelopmental problems in surviving babies.

Babies are especially vulnerable to infections because of their underdeveloped immune systems, says Sally Ellis, Children’s Antibiotics Project Leader for GARDP. “Compounding the problem is that babies are dying because of the lack of good treatment options.”