Antibiothérapie des infections néonatales bactériennes précoces chez les nouveau-nés nés à partir de 34 semaines d’aménorrhée.

All newborns superior to 34 weeks of gestationnal age (GA) are concerned by these guidelines of the French Society of Neonatology and the French Society of Pediatrics. Only newborns at risk of Early-Onset Neonatal Bacterial Infection who are clinically symptomatic have to be treated with probabilistic antibiotherapy treatment. The antibiotic combination of choice is amoxicillin + gentamicin. The two exceptions that justify dual therapy with Cefotaxime and Gentamicin are the bacteriological documentation of Escherichia coli and/or the presence of clinical signs of severity. The continuation or not of the antibiotic treatment relies on the reevaluation of the clinical examination, the bacteriological culture results (blood culture and eventual Cerebro-Spinal-Fluid (CSF) culture) after 36-48 hours of treatment. Antibiotic treatment is continued for 7 days in case of positive blood culture, with amoxicillin alone if then bacterial species implicated are group B Streptococcus (GBS) or Listeria monocytogenes, with Cefotaxime alone in case of E.coli even if the strains are susceptible to aminopenicillins. In case of meningitis due to GBS or L. monocytogenes antibiotherapy is continued for 14 days with amoxicillin alone and 21 days of cefotaxime alone in case of E. coli meningitis. Specialist advice should be sought for other bacteria or extended-spectrum beat-lactamase-producing E. coli. and the absence of bacteriological documentation, according to the clinical evolution and the inflammatory parameters, it can be decided to continue or not the antibiotherapy.