Imagine being able to know ahead of time when a baby will get a serious infection and then being able to treat the infection before it can affect his or her tender life. More than a dream, researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have developed a way to monitor babies in neonatal intensive care units and predict sepsis before there is any indication of illness. Sepsis is a serious bloodstream infection that more than doubles the risk of dying for its smallest victims. Results of this research appear in the February issue of the journal Pediatric Research.
One of the major concerns for the medical staff in the NICU is that infants can develop a life-threatening infection before there are any apparent signs of illness, said Dr. Pam Griffin, co-author and former UVa Health System neonatologist and now senior director of clinical development at MedImmune Corporation, so continuous monitoring for infection is potentially a very useful addition to our management of these vulnerable patients.
Dr. Randall Moorman, study co-author and cardiologist at the UVa Health System, was instrumental in developing the novel bedside monitoring system to predict the likelihood that sepsis will occur in a baby in the next 24 hours. The new system analyzes heartbeat signals obtained from a standard bedside heart rate monitor and looks for patterns that give an early indication that the baby is getting sick. Characteristics such as decreased variability of the heart rate along with brief episodes of slowing of the heart rate indicate that the infant may be getting an infection. These characteristic patterns can serve as an early warning to the physicians and nurses caring for the infants.
At UVa we found characteristic heart rate patterns in infants twelve or more hours before they were known to be infected, and we designed a computer program to detect these patterns, said Moorman. We worked with colleagues at Wake Forest to be sure that these heart rate characteristics typical of illness happened in sick infants elsewhere.
Now after years of testing and clearance from the Food and Drug Administration, academic research hospitals are participating in a multi-center National Institutes of Health-sponsored study to further test if heart rate characteristic monitoring improves outcomes for NICU babies.
My expectation is that the continuous monitoring of heart rate characteristics will allow clinicians to identify and treat infected infants sooner, and that earlier initiation of treatment will decrease the severity of the illness and improve the infants outcome, said Dr. Mike OShea, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest University Health Sciences Center.
The patented monitoring technology was developed by Griffin and Moorman at the University of Virginia Health System. The rights are licensed by the University of Virginia Health System Patent Foundation to Medical Predictive Sciences Corporation in Charlottesville, Virginia. Griffin and Moorman have an equity share. The multi-centered study is funded through a 5-year, $2.5 million NIH grant.
Source: University of Virginia Health System
Broadening the Path: Diverse Educational Routes Into Infection Prevention Careers
July 4th 2025Once dominated by nurses, infection prevention now welcomes professionals from public health, lab science, and respiratory therapy—each bringing unique expertise that strengthens patient safety and IPC programs.
How Contaminated Is Your Stretcher? The Hidden Risks on Hospital Wheels
July 3rd 2025Despite routine disinfection, hospital surfaces, such as stretchers, remain reservoirs for harmful microbes, according to several recent studies. From high-touch areas to damaged mattresses and the effectiveness of antimicrobial coatings, researchers continue to uncover persistent risks in environmental hygiene, highlighting the critical need for innovative, continuous disinfection strategies in health care settings.
Beyond the Surface: Rethinking Environmental Hygiene Validation at Exchange25
June 30th 2025Environmental hygiene is about more than just shiny surfaces. At Exchange25, infection prevention experts urged the field to look deeper, rethink blame, and validate cleaning efforts across the entire care environment, not just EVS tasks.
Getting Down and Dirty With PPE: Presentations at HSPA by Jill Holdsworth and Katie Belski
June 26th 2025In the heart of the hospital, decontamination technicians tackle one of health care’s dirtiest—and most vital—jobs. At HSPA 2025, 6 packed workshops led by experts Jill Holdsworth and Katie Belski spotlighted the crucial, often-overlooked art of PPE removal. The message was clear: proper doffing saves lives, starting with your own.