Title: Haematological Parameters in Neonatal Sepsis
Authors: Dr Abhilasha Garg, Dr Chandan Kr. Agrawal, Dr Narendra Mogra, Dr Pooja Kanwat, Dr Abha Patni
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v3i10.61
Abstract
Background: In neonatal sepsis, the haematological screening parameters and Creactive protein (CRP) have wide variations in performance.
Objective: To evaluate the performance of haematological screening parameters and CRP in blood culture positive neonatal sepsis.
Methods: This prospective study was done over a period of one year. Blood samples from 100 clinically suspected neonatal septicemia cases were subjected to aerobic culture and Sepsis screen tests like C-Reactive protein, micro-ESR, total WBC count, Absolute neutrophil count, Immature/Total neutrophil count (I/T) ratio, Immature/mature neutrophil count (I/T) ratio and platelet count. The culture results werecorrelated with the Sepsis screen tests.
Results: Of the 100 cases studied, 26%were blood culture positive. 72%were males. 56%were preterm and 40% were very low birth weight neonates. Early onset septicemia was more common, seen in 68% of cases than late onset septicemia (22.4%) cases. E. Coli was the commonest organism isolated in 38.46% of cases followed by klebsiella pneumoniae & staphylococcus aureus. Among the haematological parameters, the positivity was best with ANC & I/T Ratio (84.61%) and the least with platelet count (73.07%). Any 2 or more parameters were positive in 96.15% of the subjects.
Conclusion: The sepsis parameters in predicting neonatal septicemia clinically needs further evaluation. Blood culture remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of neonatal septicemia. Combination of two or more sepsis screen parameters has better results in diagnosing neonatal septicemia compared to a single test while awaiting the blood culture results.
Keywords: Blood culture, Neonatal septicemia, Sepsis screen.
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