Serious bacterial infections (SBI) including sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis, are estimated to cause >556,000 newborn deaths each year. Survivors of SBI are at risk for long-term disability, and SBI accounts for about 3% of all disability-adjusted life years in global burden of disease estimates. 

In 2023, the WHO commissioned Global AIM to synthesize  evidence on the management of serious bacterial infections in young infants aged 0 to 59 days. Under the leadership of Dr. Anne CC Lee and Dr. Krysten North, the Global AIM team and collaborators conducted a series of systematic reviews (published in an August 2024 supplement to Pediatrics) that were presented to the WHO Guideline Development Group and informed development of the new guidelines, World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for management of serious bacterial infections in infants aged 0-59 days, published on December 9, 2024. 

These updated WHO guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and first-line antibiotic treatment of infants aged 0–59 days with suspected sepsis, meningitis, or pneumonia, in both hospital and community settings.  The guidelines will be integrated into essential tools like the WHO Pocket Book of Hospital Care for Children. They will also guide future research, policy development, and implementation strategies to improve the global care of infants with serious bacterial infections.