PubMedEClinicalMedicine2026-11-13
Sepsis-related hospitalisation risk in preterm-born and term-born children and adolescents: a nationwide registry study.
Valand Jonas J, Nilsen Sara Marie SM, Asheim Andreas A, Haug Markus M et al.
The burden of severe infections in children remains inadequately characterised. Preterm birth is a risk factor for neonatal sepsis, but whether this risk persists beyond the neonatal period is unclear. We examined the risk of sepsis-related hospitalisation during childhood and adolescence in term-born and preterm-born children.
Norwegian nationwide birth registry data (Jan 1, 1992-Dec 31, 2021) were linked with hospital discharge data (Jan 1, 2008-Dec 31, 2021). Using a standardised definition, sepsis-related hospitalisations were classified as explicit (sepsis diagnosis code) or implicit (infection plus organ dysfunction diagnosis codes). We estimated rate ratios (RRs) using adjusted negative binomial regression and sibling-controlled odds ratios (ORs) using conditional logistic regression by completed weeks of gestation (23-27, 28-31, 32-33, 34-36, 37-38, and 39-41 weeks), stratified by age (3-11 months, 1-5 years, and 6-15 years).
Following 1,672,009 births, 13,158 sepsis episodes were available in the data. Hospitalisation rates for sepsis-related admissions were highest at ages 3-11 months (84.4 per 1000 person-years [95% CI 62.2-106.7] for 23-27 weeks gestation and 3.2 per 1000 person-years [95% CI 3.0-3.4] for 39-41 weeks gestation). Compared with term-born children, rates of sepsis-related hospitalisations increased by lower gestational age groups in both population and sibling analyses. Comparing extremely preterm versus term-born children, RRs were 26.5 (95% CI 20.2-34.7) at ages 3-11 months, 14.8 (11.2-19.6) at ages 1-5 years, and 6.7 (3.9-11.4) at ages 6-15 years. Sibling ORs were 24.9 (10.8-57.4), 29.7 (11.3-77.8), and 3.1 (1.2-8.0), respectively.
Lower gestational age was robustly associated with an increased risk of sepsis-related hospitalisation throughout childhood and adolescence, supporting that low gestational age at birth should be recognised as a persistent risk factor for severe infections beyond the neonatal period.
The Regional Cooperation Body for Education, Research and Innovation between the Central Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Midt-Norge RHF) and the universities and university colleges in the region (phd funding for Jonas Valand) and the joint research committee of St. Olavs University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (grant no. 2024-38542).