ABSTRACT
The signs and symptoms of neonatal sepsis are often non-specific and can make the diagnosis of infection more difficult. This leads to treat majority of neonates with antibiotics without bacterial infections. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of positive bacterial cultures and isolating the etiologic agents from neonates with suspected sepsis. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 120 neonates with suspected bacterial sepsis admitted in Mahdieh hospital, Tehran, Iran. Blood culture was performed by BACTEC 9120 system, as a more sensitive method compared to current blood culture techniques. Sepsis was classified as definite, probable, or possible based on clinical findings of sepsis, hematologic data, blood culture and CRP. Among 120 neonates, 11 cases had positive blood culture. Seven of them were positive by staphylococcus epidermidis and the rest by entrococcus, lactobacillus, diphtheroid and gram positive bacillus. Definite, probable, and possible sepsis was found in 1.7%, 9.2% and 89.1% of neonates, respectively. Early onset sepsis was determined in 90.8% of patients. The most common clinical manifestations were respiratory distress and apnea. It is beneficial to use an automated blood culture system such as BACTEC which is a sensitive method and lead to earlier detection of bacterial growth