Neonatal sepsis is a clinical syndrome of bacteremia characterized by systemic signs and symptoms of infection in the first month of life. It has been a challenge with its high incidence and grave prognosis, despite adequate treatment with modern antibiotics. The signs and symptoms are protean with a high mortality and thus there is urgent need to know whether the baby has sepsis. Confirmation of the diagnosis by definitive culture is not rapidly possible. Sepsis screen tests involving WBC indices and CRP form simple, cheap, rapid, early and easily available parameters and these can be used as non-specific indicators of bacterial sepsis. | Role of sepsis screen parameters in early diagnosis of neonatal septicemia
