Comparative Study of Diagnostic Markers in Neonatal Sepsis

Introduction: Neonatal septicemia is one of the commonest causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity. The objectives of this study were intended for qualitative and quantitative analysis of diagnostic markers in neonatal sepsis.Materials and Methods: This is a hospital based study conducted over three years (Aug 2005 – Aug 2008). Hundred and sixty neonates, delivered in the hospital, having risk factors for neonatal sepsis, along with those coming to hospital with signs and symptoms of sepsis up to 28 days of life (as study group ) along with normal newborns admitted to the postnatal ward without high risk factors (control group) were enrolled for this study. Comparative study on various diagnostics markers such blood culture, CBC,CRP, IT ratio and Micro-ESR was carried out to know their sensitivity and specificity.Results: E.Coli was the most common organism responsible for sepsis. CRP was reported to be highly sensitive (84.21%), and CBC was highly specific (75.00%), IT ratio has sensitivity of 62.5% and specificity of 56.25% while Micro-ESR has shown sensitivity of 50.0% and specificity of 62.5%,Out of 160 cases, blood culture (BacTalert) showed growth in48 cases in study group while two cases in control group. Thus blood culture positivity was 60%.Conclusion: Blood culture is the gold standard for the diagnosis of septicemia. CRP is most sensitive while CBC is most specific marker in neonatal sepsis.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jnps.v34i2.9788J Nepal Paediatr Soc 2014;34(2):111-114