IgM-enriched intravenous immunoglobulin therapy in neonatal sepsis
K. N. Haque, M. H. Zaidi and H. Bahakim
Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Despite the development of newer generation of antibiotics, mortality from
neonatal sepsis remains high. In a prospective, randomized study, we
investigated the use of IgM-enriched immunoglobulin therapy in neonatal
sepsis. Two groups of 30 infants each (matched for gestational age, sex,
weight, and other variables) were randomly allocated to receive either
antibiotics alone (control group) or antibiotics plus 5 mL/kg/d for four
days of IgM-enriched immunoglobulin intravenously (immunotherapy group).
Mortality from sepsis in the control group was 20% (6/30), while in the
immunotherapy group it was 3.3% (1/30). We conclude that IgM-enriched
immunoglobulin therapy in conjunction with antibiotic therapy significantly
reduces mortality from neonatal sepsis.
