Reducing neonatal mortality is a goal common among health care workers. However, the means by which to achieve this goal may engender debate and cause confusion. It is inherently attractive to consider human immunoglobulin prepared for intravenous use as an adjunct to therapy for neonatal sepsis, especially in those preterm infants who have the highest incidence and mortality. Before we embark on difficult and costly clinical trials to determine the efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) as adjunctive therapy, however, two hurdles must be surmounted. Commercial preparations of IVIG must be proved to be safe in neonates and there must be the promise that their benefit will outweigh both risk and cost.
