There has been an increase of preterm births (<37 weeks of gestation) in most countries worldwide over the past years [1]. These patients are at risk for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), in particular very low birth weight (VLBW, <1500 g birth weight) and extremely low birth weight (ELBW, <1000 g birth weight) infants. They require longer care in neonatology units, are exposed to more invasive devices, and have an immature immune system, as well as low levels of transplacentally acquired antibodies. Reported HAI-rates in neonatal care range from 6 to 27 per 1000 patient-days [2,3,4,5,6,7] and thus are higher than in other patient groups. Large cohort studies reported high mortality and impaired neurological development in neonates after HAI [8,9]. A study among 1051 neonates in a Brazilian neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) identified risk factors for HAI to include mechanical ventilation, inappropriate fraction of inspired oxygen, and duration of central venous catheterization [10].

Most nosocomial infections are due to bloodstream infections (BSIs) representing up to more than three-quarters of all HAI among neonates [7,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. Most BSIs are associated with catheter use, in particular central lines such as peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) and umbilical lines [18]. A total of 205 neonates out of 2935 neonates in two NICUs in New York developed BSIs after a mean of 21.4 and 35.7 days of life in each NICU, respectively [19]. Risk factors included low birth weight (with an additional 9% risk for each 100 g weight decrease), the presence of a central venous catheter (9.3-fold risk increase when compared to children without a catheter) and total parenteral nutrition (RR: 4.7). A Swiss study identified ELBW [OR: 2.24 (1.42–3.53); p < 0.001] and the use of parenteral nutrition (PN) [OR: 2.23 (1.10–4.55); p = 0.027] as the only two independent risk factors for BSI over 8 years [18]. Median time-to-infection was seven days.

Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) extend hospital length of stay by an average of 7 days and result in attributable costs of 3700 to 29,000 USD per infection [20]. A case-control study estimated extra-costs per neonate to 10,440 USD with 5.2 extra hospital days [21]. BSI-attributed costs are particularly high in Candida infections, especially in ELBW infants [22].

Group B Streptococci were predominant (47%), followed by E. coli (23%), Staphylococcus spp. (13%) and Gram-negative rods other than E. coli (8%) in early-onset sepsis (sepsis in the first three days of life) in a long term surveillance of a US NICU [31]. The most common organisms in late-onset sepsis (>3 days after birth) were coagulase-negative Streptococci (CoNS) (39%), followed by Escherichia coli (9%) and C. albicans (9%) [31]. This finding was confirmed by others, with nearly all isolated CoNS (87%) being methicillin resistant [32].

There is evidence that parenteral nutrition is associated with BSI. Nosocomial BSI due to parenteral nutrition is a potentially fatal complication with an attributable mortality rate of 11% in neonates [33]. High mortality, high incidence densities of late-onset-sepsis and CLABSI, require efforts to reduce this risk as much as possible [2,18,33,34,35]. The reasons for parenteral nutrition being identified as a risk factor by a number of studies include contamination of infusates; however, a catheter may infect at any time during catheterization due to handling, which is exemplified by the fact that CoNS is the most common pathogen identified in neonatal CLABSI [2].

Various outbreaks due to contaminated parenteral nutrition are reported in the literature. Outbreaks vary in size, time span, and pathogens. Interestingly, most outbreaks are due to contamination by Gram-negative bacteria (Table 1). The most likely time point for contamination appears to be within the span of PN-preparation. For yeasts however, days of TPN-administration seems to be more predictive [51,52]. Two outbreaks among adults due to contaminated TPN-products further illustrate the potential harm of contaminated preparations: A multistate outbreak of S. marcescens BSIs linked to contaminated MgSO4 that was distributed nationally by a compounding pharmacy [53]. The outbreak included 18 confirmed and 7 probable adult cases in California and New Jersey. Another outbreak due to S. marcescens involved 19 patients in six hospitals in Alabama, US. Nine deaths were related to contaminated parenteral nutrition preparations from a compounding pharmacy. The identical strain of S. marcescens was cultured from a tap water faucet in the pharmacy which was used to rinse production equipment [54]. Other outbreaks have been described (Table 1), most of them confirmed by pulsed-field gel-electrophoresis [55,56,57,58,59], ribotyping [60], or by an identical antibiotic susceptibility testing [61].

If complicated transfers of the medium from vials and ampoules to intravenous bags are performed, even with stringent aseptic technique, the TNA-contamination rate is estimated at about 5.2% [64]. Although performed under laminar flow by trained personnel in a pharmacy, transfer sets for compound pumps showed growth after 24 h with skin contaminants [65]. A clinical-oriented study looking at differential methods of neonatal intravenous fat emulsion preparation found contamination in 3.3% when emulsions were repackaged in syringes before use [66]. In a Mexican NICU-study mixtures made by nurses were more likely to be contaminated than commercial preparations [OR (CI 95%): 3.1 (1.1–8.5); p = 0.037] [67].

Individual tailored TNA should be prepared every day with strict aseptic technique in the pharmacy, not in the ward, and stored in a refrigerator at 4 °C [68]. The solutions prepared in such a way are stable for 96 h. Current practice standards require parenteral preparations to be compounded in a clean room to minimize microbial contamination. Proper storage, refrigeration, and infusion time of no more than 24 h reduce the chance of microbial contamination or growth in parenteral nutrition formulation [68]. Minimum requirements for compounding vary from country to country but mostly include the use of a Class A/Class 100 laminar flow cabinet either operated in a Class B/Class 1000 or a relatively uncontrolled environment [69].

Large hospitals perform pharmacy compounding to all-in-one admixtures rather than using commercial formula in compartment bags. While in adults, ready-to-use admixtures have become standard, most parenteral nutrition preparations for neonates are still compounded in local pharmacies [70,71]. In adults, ready-to-use multichamber bags containing three sterilized macronutrient solutions in separate chambers of a single, closed plastic system are widely available and have been used for many years [72,73]. Standardized solutions can be also used in infants once they tolerate mild or moderate variations in nutritional intake [74,75,76,77,78,79]. However, there are still concernsabout ready-to-use preparations in preterms. Many neonatologists consider customized admixtures prepared by the pharmacy superior to ready-to-use preparations to provide optimal nutrition although standardized parenteral nutrition solutions in combination with early promotion of enteral feeding with human milk have been associated with improved nutritional support in very preterm infants [79,80].

Healthcare associated infections are a permanent challenge in neonates. In particular, preterm infants are at risk for infection due to an immature immune system and lower levels of transplacental antibodies. The majority of nosocomial infections are due to CLABSI, which are associated with prolonged hospital stay causing significant attributable costs. TPN and TNA have been identified as independent risk factors for HAI, BSI or sepsis by many studies. The body of evidence is uncontested and robust. These findings have a strong pathophysiological background as TPN with lipids promote the growth of a wide spectrum of microorganisms that is even further increased by human serum. In particular, Candida species can grow rapidly in almost all TPN solutions regardless of acidity and lipid content. Some bacterial species may grow in lipid-containing TNA unless the pH-value is extreme [81], but they poorly grow in parenteral nutrition without lipids due to the acidity of the solution [82].

Maintaining sterility of nutritional admixtures for parenteral use upon preparation is of utmost importance. Regulations and recommendations have been issued to assure the quality of the final product. Despite compounding in the pharmacy under strict aseptic technique, outbreaks due to contaminated admixtures have been reported. Given the high CLABSI incidence in neonates associated with high attributable mortality, further prevention efforts are required. Although many neonatologists still have concerns about the suitability of ready-to-use preparations on nutritional levels, such products may offer a better safety profile in terms of infections. The risk for CLABSI through prolonged catheterization and parenteral nutrition might be further reduced by encouraging enteral feeding. Current data do not provide evidence that delayed induction of progressive enteral feeding or slow advancement of enteral feed volumes reduces the risk of NEC in VLBW infants. On the other hand, delaying induction and increasing the volume of enteral feeds at slower rather than faster rates results in several days delay in regaining birth weight and establishing full enteral feeds [83,84]. Rapid advancement of enteral feeding may reduce the duration of parenteral nutrition and catheter dwell time and, thus, such an approach may be favored. It was not the scope of the review to comment on the risks and benefits of accelerated enteral feeding. However, a recent randomized controlled trial suggests that such a strategy may even contribute to the prevention of HAI and in particular of CLABSI and clinical sepsis [85].