What are the major bacterial pathogens responsible for serious neonatal infections in the community in rural Bangladesh?
Can provision of a package of obstetric and neonatal care, including active surveillance for serious neonatal illness and referral to hospital, and identification of barriers to care-seeking and design of strategies to address them reduce neonatal mortality rates by at least 40% compared to communities in which such services are not provided? Despite significant decline in infant and child mortality rates in recent decades, neonatal mortality rates remain unacceptably high. Of the 8 million infant deaths that occur worldwide each year, approximately 4 million occur in the neonatal period. Hence, the specific aims of the study include: identifying the principal agents of serious bacterial infections in Bangladeshi neonates in the community evaluating the impact of introducing a package of essential obstetric and neonatal care practices in the community, including identifying barriers to care-seeking and design of strategies to address those barriers and building capacity within Banglade
