VALIDITY OF C- REACTIVE PROTEIN IN DIAGNOSIS OF NEONATAL SEPSIS.

Abstract

Background: Neonatal sepsis with its high incidence &grave prognosis, in spite of adequate treatment with modern antibiotics, has been a challenge for all times. Optimal diagnosis and treatment strategies are difficult to define. It is essential to diagnose early with laboratory investigation like serial CRP; so that a feasible, rapid and a relatively economic method to diagnose neonatal sepsis at earliest can be instituted even at basic health care level. hence a study was planned to find out the role of CRP against blood culture in early detection of neonatal sepsis. Aim & Objective: To evaluate Validity of C-Reactive Protein as a screening test in neonatal sepsis. Material and Method: This prospective study was carried out inpaediatric dept of medical college. 100 neonates (≤ 28 days) with suspected neonatal sepsis having a birth weight of ≥ 1000 grams admitted during a period from January 2020 to March 2020 were screened primarily with C-Reactive Protein. Serial level of CRPon the day of admission,2nd ,4th ,6th ,8th& 10th day was compared with the serial blood cultureon the day of admission,8th,15th& 21st day to establish the validity of CRP as a screening test.Data analysis carried out by Percentages, Chi Square test, Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive predictive value, Negative predictive value. Results: Amongst 100neonate 76% were early neonates,65% were low birth weight,CRP was having high sensitivity & specificity(78.57%,76.74% respectively). ROC analysis showed AUC 0.8 with p<0.001.Conclusion: CRP is a good screening test & establishes its validity in diagnosing suspected sepsis.