ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy
Clinical Features Analysis for Complications in Infants with Late-Onset Group B Streptococcal Sepsis: A Retrospective Case-Control Study
Provisionally accepted
- Children's Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
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Objective To investigate the risk factors associated with complications in infants with late-onset Group B Streptococcal (GBS) sepsis, and to provide evidence for clinical intervention strategies. Methods This study is a retrospective case-control study. The clinical data of 101 infants with late-onset GBS sepsis, diagnosed before 3 months of age were retrospectively analyzed. According to the presence or absence of complications, the infants were divided into the complication group and the non-complication group. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore the risk factors associated with the occurrence of complications in infants with late-onset GBS sepsis. Using ROC curves to evaluate the predictive efficacy of clinical variables. Results A total of 101 cases of late-onset GBS sepsis met the inclusion criteria, including 41 in the non-complication group and 60 in the complication group. The gestational age in the complication group was significantly lower than that in the non-complication group (P < 0.05). Clinically, the complication group had a higher incidence of seizure, bulging anterior fontanelle, and fever, as well as a significantly lower PaO₂/FiO₂ ratio (P < 0.05). Laboratory findings showed that the complication group had a higher incidence of hypoalbuminemia, concomitant positivity in blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures, elevated creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels, and significantly lower pH and albumin levels (P < 0.05). In addition, the complication group exhibited significantly higher Pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (pSOFA) scores, Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction Score 2 (PELOD-2) scores, and higher proportion of patients with high pSOFA (>3.50) and PELOD-2 scores (>3.50) (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that high PELOD-2 score, high pSOFA score, high creatinine levels and hypoalbuminemia were risk factors for the development of complications in infants with late-onset GBS sepsis; the ROC curve constructed using these predictors demonstrated excellent discriminative ability, with an AUC of 0.858 (95% CI: 0.782–0.934), sensitivity of 77.78%, and specificity of 82.61%. Conclusion High PELOD-2 score, high pSOFA score, high creatinine levels, and hypoalbuminemia independently predict complications in late-onset GBS sepsis infants, enabling early risk stratification and tailored treatment to improve outcomes.
Keywords: infants, group B streptococcus, late-onset, Sepsis, complications, Risk factors
Received: 01 Jul 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Geng, Sun, Shen, Li, Li, Wang, Wang and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xueping Zhu, zhuxueping4637@126.com
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