India, March 8 -- A third of newborns in special care units at Indian district hospitals suffer from neonatal sepsis, a potentially fatal bloodstream infection, a research paper published in The Lancet Global Health journal last week said.

What makes it more challenging is that most cases are resistant to multiple drugs, complicating treatment efforts, according to the research paper.

Neonatal sepsis remains a critical public health challenge in India, with the research showing that 34.6% of newborns in special newborn care units (SNCUs) across five district-level hospitals suffer from this life-threatening infection. And, 75% to 88% of these infections were caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens.

Neonatal sepsis is a major cause of d...