Correlation of Result of Blood Culture and C- Reactive Protein Test in Neonatal Septicemia

Introduction: Neonatal septicemia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal intensive care unit. As the clinical manifestations are nonspecific, it is necessary to made early diagnosis to reduce morbidity and mortality. So, an effort was made to determine the correlation between blood culture and C reactive protein (CRP) in neonate presenting with features of sepsis to aid in the early and effective diagnosis.

Aim: To study CRP as an early indicator of sepsis and its statistical association with blood culture in suspected cases of neonatal septicemia.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted from July 2013 to December 2013 in tertiary care teaching Hospital, Ahmedabad. Total 300 Blood samples were received from clinically suspected patients of neonatal septicemia from neonatal intensive care unit, and processed by BACT/ALERT 3D automated blood culture instrument and CRP was determined in the same. We studied association between CRP & blood culture positivity in neonatal sepsis.

Results: In our study; out of 300, 143 samples had positive results for CRP test i.e. 47.6%. In a total of 93 culture positive detected sample of neonatal septicemia, 80 samples were CRP positive. It indicates the sensitivity of CRP test to detect neonatal septicemia to be 86.02%. In a total of 207 culture negative sample, 144 samples were detected negative by CRP results .Hence, the specificity of CRP was found to be 69.5%.

Conclusion: The present study depicts a significant correlation between blood culture positivity and CRP levels. Thus, estimation of CRP levels and its interpretation in the light of clinical picture can aid as a tool for the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.