Limitations
puerperal infections, prematurity, infections, infection, birth asphyxia
NEONATAL INFECTION, INFECTIONS, INFECTION, PUERPERAL INFECTION, EVENTS, BIRTH ASPHYXIA
There were some noteworthy limitations to this study. The diagnosis of infection in this study was based on clinical signs/symptoms and did not involve the use of blood cultures, the gold standard, or any other laboratory findings. Likewise, the WHO Young Infant Study algorithm used in the diagnosis of neonatal infections presents with high sensitivity and low specificity due to its overlap with other conditions, including birth asphyxia and prematurity. The case of prematurity is of particular interest, as more than half of our study population was preterm. This low specificity with neonatal infections as well as the rare outcome of puerperal infections may also have impacted our analysis, limiting the statistical power.This study also focused on infections within the first 72 hours of life, and our findings do not cover the entire spectrum of early-onset maternal or neonatal infections. Due to the dependence on TBAs’ recall of kit use, a possible recall bias could impact the true reflection of events surrounding delivery. Nonetheless, this should be minimal, as the recall was done within 72 hours of birth.