Role Of C-Reactive Protein In Early Onset Neonatal sepsis

Objective: To evaluate the role of C-Reactive Protein (CRP) in the diagnosis of early onset sepsis (EOS) in neonates Design: Prospective study Settings: intensive care unit of a tertiary level teaching hospital in India subjects: 225 neonates at risk of / or with clinical features of EOS Methods: CRP levels were measured semi-quantitatively (at value of 8 mg /L) at the time of admission and 8-24 hours later on the next morning. Results: of 225 neonates 30 had positive blood cultures. The sensitivity, specifity, PPV and NPV of CRP at 0 hours were 40%, 87.7%, 33.3%and 90.4% respectively, the corresponding values at 24 hours were 70%, 72.3%,28% and 94% respectively Conclusions: a single CRP value done at the time of admission lacks sensitivity. The sensitivity is increased by serial testing. A negative CRP value is more important than a positive CRP value in that it excludes infection with a high certainty