The value of new 16S rRNA gene chip in pathogen detection of neonatal sepsis

Abstract

Objective To study the value of new 16S rRNA gene chip in pathogen detection of neonatal sepsis. Method Newborns with suspected sepsis hospitalized in Peking University Shenzhen Hospital from January 2015 to December 2017 were chosen as the subjects. Blood culture and gene chip were both used to detect the pathogens of these infants. The positive rate, the detection time, and the blood volume needed for detection were compared between the two methods. Result A total of 306 cases of suspected neonatal sepsis were included in the study. Among them, 34 (11.1%) were positive for blood culture and 54 (17.6%) were positive for gene chip. 98 cases were diagnosed as neonatal sepsis, 34 (34.7%) were positive for blood culture, and 52 (53.1%) were positive for gene chip. The positive rate of gene chip was higher than that of blood culture (P<0.05). For the 5 common pathogens of neonatal sepsis, the positive rate of gene chip was higher than that of blood culture. Time to positivity (TTP) and pathogen identification time of blood culture were (14.6±5.5) h and (72.9±19.0) h, respectively. TTP and pathogen identification time of gene chip were both 3 h. The detection time of gene chip was significantly less than that of blood culture (P<0.001). The blood volume needed for detection of blood culture and gene chip was 1~2 ml and 0.5 ml. Gene chip needs less blood volume than blood culture. Conclusion Compared with the traditional blood culture, gene chip can quickly detect the pathogens in the blood with higher positive rate and less blood volume. Gene chip is of great value in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Key words: RNA, ribosomal, 16S; Noxae; Gene chip; Septicemia; Infant, newborn