What is neonatal jaundice? Will jaundice recur?

Medically, jaundice in newborns under 28 days old is called neonatal jaundice. Neonatal jaundice refers to the abnormal bilirubin metabolism in the neonatal period, which causes an increase in bilirubin in the blood. The increase in bilirubin levels and the yellowing of the skin, mucous membranes and sclera are the main characteristics of this disease.

It appears 2 to 3 days after birth, reaches a peak on the 4th to 6th day, and gradually subsides on the 7th to 10th day. The duration for premature infants will be slightly longer, about two weeks, and there are no other clinical symptoms except for a slight loss of appetite. If jaundice appears within 24 hours after birth, or the daily serum bilirubin level exceeds 5mg/dl or is >0.5mg/dl per hour, and it lasts for a long time, more than 2 weeks in full-term infants and more than 4 weeks in premature infants, it still does not subside, and even continues to deepen and worsen, or reappears after subsiding, which is often called retreat and reappearance, and jaundice that begins to appear within a week or several weeks after birth is called pathological jaundice.

Neonatal jaundice is the most common disease in the neonatal period and can be roughly divided into physiological neonatal jaundice and pathological neonatal jaundice.