Clinical Considerations Clinical Recognition Neonatal sepsis presents within the first weeks of life with symptoms ranging from simply poor feeding to frank respiratory distress and cardiovascular collapse ( Table 96.7 ) Hypothermia from inability to maintain body temperature often occurs in babies with sepsis Symptoms and signs can be very nonspecific and sepsis should be considered as a differential diagnosis in any symptomatic newborn Neonatal sepsis can mimic any disease of the newborn, including cardiac (cardiogenic shock from closure of a patent ductus in ductal-dependent lesions), respiratory, endocrine, and metabolic conditions Viral and systemic fungal infections can have the same signs and symptoms as bacterial sepsis