Early Identification of Sepsis

Abstract

Early diagnosis is crucial to reduce morbidity and mortality from sepsis. Clinical suspicion is the first step to diagnosis, and necessitates meticulous history taking and complete clinical examination. Special attention should be paid to identifying foci of infection. Biomarkers of host response-including acute phase proteins, procalcitonin, and various cytokines-may be useful in the diagnosis and management of patients with sepsis. Rapid and reliable detection of pathogens and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns is also of utmost importance. Many new techniques have been developed to shorten the time required for pathogen detection, including nucleic acid-based technologies (eg, polymerase chain reaction, microarrays, and hybridization). The detection of pathogen-related antigens is another approach that is useful in the diagnosis of fungal infections, targeting fungal cell wall components such as galactomannan and (1→3)-β-D-glucan.

Delta Neutrophil Index as a Prognostic Marker in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

“…Ideally, the biomarker should reflect not only the presence of sepsis, but also its severity. Although several biomarkers have been investigated to diagnose infection or sepsis [6,7], no single biologic marker has been shown to reliably identify patients who are at risk of developing severe sepsis or septic shock [8], and tests for these markers are often not widely available at the bedside.…”

Limitation of the delta neutrophil index for assessing bacteraemia in immunocompromised children

“…Several biomarkers that are used to aid rapid identification of patients with bacteraemia, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin and various interleukins, respond to both infection and non-infectious inflammation [5]. The search for more reliable and specific biomarkers for early diagnosis of bacteraemia is therefore critically important [6,7].…”

Correlation between inflammatory factors and post-stroke pneumonia in diabetic patients

“…These effects are associated with pneumonia following stroke (9,10). Biomarkers may facilitate an early diagnosis of pneumonia in patients with acute ischemic stroke (11). …”