NEC Awareness Day Date in the current year: May 17, 2025

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is an intestinal disease that causes severe inflammation of the intestines, which can lead to necrosis (tissue death). It primarily affects premature infants, infants with very low birth weight, and infants with serious birth defects such as congenital heart disease. The exact cause of NEC is unknown, but risk factors other than prematurity, low birth weight, and birth conditions are thought to include birth asphyxia, intestinal dysbiosis, and feeding of cow's milk-based formula.

The main symptoms of NEC include poor feeding and failure to thrive, abdominal distention (bloating), bloody stools, and vomiting of bile. If left untreated, symptoms can rapidly progress to severe complications such as intestinal perforation, peritonitis, multiple organ failure, and possibly death. NEC affects approximately 7% of premature infants, with symptoms developing within the first four weeks of life, and causes death in approximately 25% of those affected.

Treatment for NEC depends on the severity of the symptoms and consists primarily of supportive care. It typically includes stopping oral feeding to allow the bowel to rest, nasogastric suction to decompress the stomach, intravenous fluids and nutrition, and intravenous antibiotics to prevent or treat sepsis. If the bowel perforates or the condition worsens despite conservative treatment, surgery may be required: laparotomy to remove dead bowel tissue or temporary peritoneal drainage for very small or unstable infants who cannot undergo laparotomy.

The prognosis for NEC patients depends on the timeliness of diagnosis, the extent of bowel damage, and the overall health of the patient. Typical recovery time in cases where non-surgical treatment is successful is 10-14 days without oral feeding. Infants who have undergone surgery are at risk for developing long-term complications.

Necrotizing Enterocolitis Awareness Day, commonly referred to as NEC Awareness Day, was created in 2018 by the NEC Society, a U.S.-based, patient-led nonprofit organization whose mission is to build a world without NEC through advocacy, research and education. The organization was founded in 2014 by Jennifer Canvasser, whose son Micah died shortly before his first birthday from complications of necrotizing enterocolitis.

NEC Awareness Day is observed on May 17 because May is NEC Awareness Month, and the number 17 is a reference to the fact that it takes an average of 17 years for research findings to reach clinical practice, which is too long to wait when babies are dying from NEC in the NICU.

You can get involved with NEC Awareness Day by learning more about the disease and sharing what you’ve learned with others, donating to the NEC Society or other nonprofit organizations that support NEC patients and their families or fund research, and spreading the word on social media using the hashtags #NECAwarenessDay and #NECDay. You can also wear an awareness ribbon: the NEC Society prefers a blue and yellow ribbon, while NEC UK uses a green and blue ribbon.