Indian Journal of Microbiology Research
Official Publication of Innovative Education and Scientific Research Foundation
Official Publication of Innovative Education and Scientific Research Foundation
Background: One of the main causes of newborn mortality is neonatal sepsis, which has to be diagnosed quickly and precisely. Although the Bact/ALERT method for blood culture is commonly used, it is often slow, For early identification of sepsis, interleukin-6 (IL-6) provides a quicker substitute. Aim and Objective: This study evaluates how well the BacT/ALERT system and IL-6 diagnose newborn sepsis, aiming to determine the most reliable and timely method for improving neonatal outcomes. Materials and Methods: A clinician at the National Institute of Medical Sciences & Research who admitted neonates to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) suspected 120 newborns of having sepsis. The inclusion criteria were satisfied by newborns between the ages of 0 and 28 days who showed clinical signs of sepsis. Exclusion criteria included infants with congenital anomalies or those who had received antibiotics before sampling. Results: In this study of 120 neonates, IL-6 levels were elevated in 45% of the cases, with a sensitivity of 100%, specificity 86.84%, PPV 81.48% and NPV 100% for. 36.67% of samples had bacterial growth identified by the BacT/ALERT system. In just three hours, IL-6 produced results, which was far quicker than the BacT/ALERT method. Conclusion: IL-6 is a rapid, sensitive marker for neonatal sepsis, offering faster diagnosis than BacT/ALERT. Combining both methods may improve early detection and treatment outcomes. IL-6 offers rapid, high-sensitivity sepsis detection compared to BacT/ALERT, which, despite being slower, is crucial for pathogen identification. Combining both methods could enhance early diagnosis and treatment
Neonatal sepsis, Interleukin-6, BacT/ALERT, Blood culture
