Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International

Worldwide neonatal sepsis is among the most frequent causes of neonatal death. Various studies have tried to establish the relationship between prevalence of neonatal septicemia risk factors and bacteriological profiling, low birth weight, prematurity, etc. Current study was aimed to compare early onset of neonatal sepsis (EONS) among primigravida and multigravida mothers using umbilical cord blood (UCB) and peripheral venous blood (PVB) samples. It was also aimed to establish the utilization of umbilical cord blood culture (UCBC) in comparison to peripheral venous blood culture (PVBC) in identifying EONS. In present study the blood samples were collected from high risk neonates for the clinical blood culture and screening. Among the 75 neonates in the study, 24 (32.0%) were observed to have sepsis screen positive. Study of high risk neonates umbilical cord blood culture (UCBC) positivity was 17.3% while Peripheral Venous blood culture positivity was 5.3%. Moreover,  in this study all risk factors like Prematurity, Low birth weights, Premature rupture of membrane, and birth asphyxia were significantly (p<0.05) associated with UCBC growth/positivity. Low birth weight (86%) was mostly reported in the high risk neonates with other associated sepsis factors. Similarly maternal fever and prolonged rupture of membrane was highly significantly (p<0.01) associated with UCBC positivity. Gram negative bacterias  were  more  commonly found,  such as Pseudomonas (5.3%), followed by E. coli (4%), and Klebsiella (2.7%) and gram positive Streptococcus sp. (2.7%), etc. From our analysis it can be said that the UCBC has strong diagnostic outcomes as compared to the PVBC for etiological evaluation of bacterial sepsis in neonates at high risk.