Incidence and Risk Factors for Newborn Umbilical Cord Infections on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Abstract

Signs of omphalitis occur frequently and predominantly in the first week of life among newborns in Pemba, Tanzania. Infection definitions relying on single signs without classifying severity level may overestimate burden. Redness with pus or redness at the moderate or severe level if pus is absent is more appropriate for estimating burden or during evaluation of interventions to reduce infection.