Enhancing neonatal sepsis detection: A comparative analysis of interleukin-6 and the BacT/ALERT blood culture system

Abstract

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. : 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. 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. 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. 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.