Comparative Study of Umbilical Cord Blood Versus Peripheral Venous Blood in  Early-Onset  Neonatal Sepsis in a Tertiary Hospital

Comparative Study of Umbilical Cord Blood Versus Peripheral Venous Blood in Early-Onset Neonatal Sepsis in a Tertiary Hospital | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Comparative Study of Umbilical Cord Blood Versus Peripheral Venous Blood in Early-Onset Neonatal Sepsis in a Tertiary Hospital Athulya P U, Gayatri Ray, Pusparaj Aditya Pradhan, Leena Das This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6889513/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: Neonatal morbidity and mortality continue to be significantly impacted by early-onset sepsis. Blood culture remains the diagnostic gold standard, but obtaining adequate peripheral blood is challenging in neonates. Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of umbilical cord blood in early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) compared to peripheral venous blood. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted on 242 neonates with EONS risk factors. Cord blood and peripheral blood were simultaneously collected post-delivery for culture and CRP analysis. Diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and correlation with clinical sepsis were calculated. Results: Among the 242 neonates, 56.6% were male and 43.4% female. Birth asphyxia (38%) and maternal fever (29.7%) were the most common risk factors. Sepsis screen was positive in 27.2% of neonates. Cord blood culture was positive in 26.8% and peripheral culture in 28.1%. The sensitivity and specificity of cord culture were 73.5% and 90.8%, respectively. CRP at a cutoff of 9 mg/L had 41% sensitivity and 83% specificity. Overall, 87.6% of neonates were discharged, 5.7% died, and 6.6% left against medical advice. Conclusion: Umbilical cord blood serves as a viable alternative for early detection of neonatal sepsis, especially in resource-limited settings where peripheral blood access is challenging. Neonatal Sepsis Umbilical Cord Blood Peripheral Blood CRP Blood Culture Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6889513","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":483588903,"identity":"9e240db0-cbb3-4a06-bf41-2c2ca9091ec5","order_by":0,"name":"Athulya P U","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA8UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJCCAyDEB2ZWADEzcwMRWhIOMLCBmWdAWhgJa2GAa2FsA5P4tRjc7j144OePO4ltEsnPHvPOq43mbwdq+VGxDbeWO+cSDvYkPANqSTM35t12PHfGYcYGxp4zt3FruZFjcIAn4TBQS4KZNO+2Y7kNQC3MjG34tRz8A9aS/k2ad86x3PnEaDkMsSUHaEtDTe4GQlokQVpk0g4bt/G8KTecc+xA7kagloP4/MJ3I8f44xubw7L97OnbHrypqcudd/7wwQc/KnBrQQCBBFDUHAazDxChHgj4D4C01BGneBSMglEwCkYUAAAdQWM5CeDEiAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"PGIMER \u0026 Capital Hospital","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Athulya","middleName":"P","lastName":"U","suffix":""},{"id":483588904,"identity":"5811111c-ce7d-4ee9-8a0f-49d110702f4a","order_by":1,"name":"Gayatri Ray","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"PGIMER \u0026 Capital Hospital","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gayatri","middleName":"","lastName":"Ray","suffix":""},{"id":483588905,"identity":"e216641e-b1e8-4e4d-bb03-c9ae6e004495","order_by":2,"name":"Pusparaj Aditya Pradhan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"PGIMER \u0026 Capital Hospital","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pusparaj","middleName":"Aditya","lastName":"Pradhan","suffix":""},{"id":483588906,"identity":"09bd4b2f-c323-47b5-8b9b-01855ea4499b","order_by":3,"name":"Leena Das","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"PGIMER \u0026 Capital Hospital","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leena","middleName":"","lastName":"Das","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-13 15:38:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6889513/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6889513/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":96919866,"identity":"490a7605-e5b2-487e-b3a4-b1e49f875a66","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-27 14:14:34","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":631102,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"2.ManuscriptImprovedReadyforSubmission.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6889513/v1_covered_7081ac3e-6bdf-438c-8e07-ba42ff3e963b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Comparative Study of Umbilical Cord Blood Versus Peripheral Venous Blood in Early-Onset Neonatal Sepsis in a Tertiary Hospital","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Neonatal Sepsis, Umbilical Cord Blood, Peripheral Blood, CRP, Blood Culture","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6889513/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6889513/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground: \u003c/strong\u003eNeonatal morbidity and mortality continue to be significantly impacted by early-onset sepsis. Blood culture remains the diagnostic gold standard, but obtaining adequate peripheral blood is challenging in neonates. Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of umbilical cord blood in early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) compared to peripheral venous blood.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods: \u003c/strong\u003eA prospective observational study was conducted on 242 neonates with EONS risk factors. Cord blood and peripheral blood were simultaneously collected post-delivery for culture and CRP analysis. Diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and correlation with clinical sepsis were calculated.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults: \u003c/strong\u003eAmong the 242 neonates, 56.6% were male and 43.4% female. Birth asphyxia (38%) and maternal fever (29.7%) were the most common risk factors. Sepsis screen was positive in 27.2% of neonates. Cord blood culture was positive in 26.8% and peripheral culture in 28.1%. 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