Newborn Intensive Care Unit has recruited the first two UK patients to multi-centre European Vancomycin study

Congratulations to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) research team at St Mary’s Hospital for recruiting the first two babies in the UK onto the NeoVanc research study.

The study, led by principal investigator Dr Ajit Kumar Mahaveer, aims to develop optimal dosing and monitoring regimen of the antibiotic vancomycin for neonates and infants under 3 months old with late onset sepsis caused by gram-positive microorganisms. This particular strain of bacterial infection is extremely resistant to antibiotics and a standardised dosage for premature infants has not yet been defined.

Sepsis is an infection of the blood which needs to be diagnosed and treated with antibiotics as quickly as possible. Despite advances in healthcare, sepsis is a significant cause of mortality among this vulnerable age group whose immune systems are not yet fully developed.

The study is sponsored by St George’s University of London and supported by the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network.