Huge jump in sepsis in newborns

THE number of cases of life- threatening sepsis in newborn babies has doubled in five years.

In the past 12 months, there were 9,000 reports of the illness. A large number of the infections were passed on by mums at birth.

Dr Ron Daniels, of the UK Sepsis Trust, said: “The numbers are of concern. There needs to be more awareness newborn babies can get sepsis and we need to screen... for bugs that cause sepsis in newborns.”

A common source of infection leading to sepsis is bugs carried by many healthy pregnant women, which can be passed on to a baby during delivery.

A £10 test exists that can identify women carrying bugs during pregnancy, but the Department of Health refuses to back its use.

Dr Daniels added medics should be alert to women with diabetes in pregnancy, as it can allow bugs to grow leading to sepsis in babies. A STRAY cow had to be lassoed and dragged from a family’s swimming pool after falling into it in Newton, North Carolina.