Abstract OBJECTIVE: To study the risk factors for the development of fungal pneumonia in neonates. METHODS: A total of 260 neonates with nosocomial infectious pneumonia were classified into two groups: fungal pneumonia (n=160) and bacterial pneumonia (n=100). Their medical data were retrospectively studied. RESULTS: Eighty-seven percent of patients in the fungal pneumonia group had a duration of hospital stay of >10 days, but 30.1% of patients in the bacterial pneumonia group (P<0.01). The preterm infants in the fungal pneumonia group accounted for 49.5%, which was significantly higher than that in the bacterial pneumonia group (22.0%) (P<0.01). In the fungal pneumonia group, 59.9% of patients showed a weight of <2 500 g, but 34.0% of patients in the bacterial pneumonia group (P<0.01). The duration of the combined use of more than two broad-spectrum antibiotics (P<0.05) and the total duration of antibiotics use in the fungal pneumonia group was significantly longer than that in the bacterial pneumonia group (P<0.05). Nosocomial infectious bacterial pneumonia was common as the primary disease of fungal pneumonia (n=145). CONCLUSIONS: Premature delivery, lower weight, longer duration of hospital stay and antibiotics use, and combined use of more than two broad-spectrum antibiotics may increase the risk of fungal pneumonia in neonates. The development of fungal pneumonia may be related to nosocomial infectious bacterial pneumonia in neonates.
