1. Disposable diapers decrease the incidence of neonatal infections compared to cloth diapers in a level II neonatal intensive care unit.
- Author
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Babu MC, Tandur B, Sharma D, and Murki S
- Subjects
- Cross Infection prevention & control, Diaper Rash epidemiology, Female, Humans, Incidence, India epidemiology, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Intensive Care Units, Neonatal, Male, Prospective Studies, Sepsis prevention & control, Urban Population, Clothing, Communicable Diseases epidemiology, Cross Infection epidemiology, Diaper Rash prevention & control, Diapers, Infant economics, Diapers, Infant statistics & numerical data, Infant Care, Sepsis epidemiology
- Abstract
Objective: To study whether disposable diapers decrease the incidence of neonatal infections compared with cloth diapers in a level II neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)., Method and Material: All neonates admitted to the NICU and having duration of stay >48 h were enrolled. Those babies with signs and symptoms of infection were screened with septic screen and/or blood culture., Results: The primary outcome of the study was incidence of probable sepsis. Of 253 babies enrolled in the study period, probable sepsis was present in 101 (39.9%) infants in the total study group and was higher in cloth diaper group as compared with disposable diaper group (p = 0.01). For an average NICU stay of 6 days, cloth diapers would cost Rs. 241 vs. Rs. 162 for disposable diaper for any infant., Conclusion: Usage of disposable diapers decrease the incidence of probable sepsis in babies admitted to NICU. It is also cost effective to use disposable diapers in the NICU., (© The Author [2015]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
- Published
- 2015
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