Fungemia in neonates: report of 80 cases from seven university hospitals.

To the Editor. Candidemia is an emerging infection in neonatology, due to multiple risk factors for fungal infections in neonates, eg, central venous catheter (CVC) insertion, total parenteral nutrition (TPN), corticosteroid and antibiotic therapy, very low birth weight (VLBW) and arteriovenous support (AV).1–3 Within 10 years, from 1989 to 1998, a prospective nation-wide survey of fungemia in 7 university children's clinics in Slovakia was performed. A total of 310 fungemias developed; 145 appeared in children (48.5%) and 80 (55.3% of all children and 23.3% of all cases) appeared in neonates. The most common risk factors (Table 1) for fungemia in neonates were prior antibiotic therapy, CVC insertion, and TPN, which appeared in …