Objective: To probe into the clinical features of early-onset and late-onset neonatal sepsis

so as to provide references for neonatologists to identify neonatal sepsis in the early stage. Methods: Totally 86 cases of early-onset and late-onset neonatal sepsis admitted into Sichuan Science City Hospital from Jan. 2016 to Jan. 2019 were extracted. According to different onset time

all patients were divided into 33 cases in the early-onset sepsis group (≤72 h) and 53 cases in the late-onset sepsis group (>72 h). And the clinical features were compared and analyzed. Results: The incidences of premature

small for gestation age

premature rupture of membranes

maternal prenatal infection

jaundice

sclerosis

refusal of milk

septic shock

diffuse intravascular coagulation (DIC) and purulent meningitis in the early-onset group were significantly higher than those in the late-onset group

while the incidences of internal and external infections

and abnormal body temperature in the late-onset group were higher than those in the early-onset group

with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). Early-onset sepsis was mainly caused by G- bacteria

including Escherichia coli (37.5%)

Klebsiella pneumoniae (25.0%) and coagulase-negative Staphylococci (18.75%). Late-onset sepsis was mainly caused by G+ bacteria

including coagulase-negative Staphylococci (33.33%)

group B Streptococci (25.0%) and E. coli (20.83%). Conclusion: Early-onset sepsis is mainly caused by G- bacteria

and late-onset sepsis is mainly caused by G+ bacteria. Premature delivery and perinatal infection are high-risk factors for early-onset neonatal sepsis

and good perinatal health care and reduction of perinatal infection are important aspects of preventing neonatal sepsis.