Etiology, Prevention and Treatment of Neonatal Infections in the Community

The study seeks answers to two questions:

1. What are the major bacterial pathogens responsible for serious neonatal infections in the community in rural Bangladesh?
2. Can provision of a package of obstetric and neonatal care, including active surveillance for serious neonatal illness and referral to hospital, and identification of barriers to care-seeking and design of strategies to address them reduce neonatal mortality rates by at least 40% compared to communities in which such services are not provided?

Despite significant decline in infant and child mortality rates in recent decades, neonatal mortality rates remain unacceptably high. Of the 8 million infant deaths that occur worldwide each year, approximately 4 million occur in the neonatal period.

Hence, the specific aims of the study include:

1. identifying the principal agents of serious bacterial infections in Bangladeshi neonates in the community
2. evaluating the impact of introducing a package of essential obstetric and neonatal care practices in the community, including identifying barriers to care-seeking and design of strategies to address those barriers and
3. building capacity within Bangladesh by training Bangladeshi scientists in epidemiological and microbiological techniques, clinical research methods and best clinical practice through an on-going collaboration with Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh.