Contemplate enteroviral etiology: Not all neonatal sepsis syndromes are bacterial

Abstract

Sepsis is one of the most common clinical diagnosis made in neonatal intensive care units. However, there are not so uncommon situations when the laboratory results do not support bacterial infections. Viral infections are under-recognized and often missed in sick neonates. We describe a case series of neonatal nonpolio enteroviral sepsis confirmed by the polymerase chain reaction. Although the first patient expired, early recognition of etiology in the index case helped control an outbreak.