Anales españoles de pediatría
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All cases of neonatal septicemia among neonates admitted to the neonatal unit in the pediatric department (CHUS) in Santiago de Compostela between 1992 and 1995 were studied. Our aims were: 1) To assess the incidence and microbial epidemiology. 2) To study the incidence of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CONS) sepsis stratified according to birth weight and gestational age. 3) To assess the incidence density of sepsis (IDS) and 4) To analyze the associated mortality. ⋯ S. epidermidis and other CONS are the main agents causing sepsis in hospitalized neonates, although there is a decreasing trend of incidence (-71.1%) between the years 1992 and 1995 (5.0% vs 1.5%). Gram-negative organisms and S. agalactiae played a minor role as agents causing sepsis even though S. agalactiae is the most important agent in early onset sepsis. Overall mortality associated with sepsis (7/1000 live births) is in or under the average range of international statistics. Indexes of IDS are more valuable as epidemiological tools in assessing septicemia than the simple attack rate because they have taken into consideration the length of stay, number of hospitalized newborns, as well as the number of positive sepsis work-ups in the calculating process.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of C-reactive protein values in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis, either as a single test or in combination with total white cell count. ⋯ Measurement of C-reactive protein is useful in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis, mainly in cases with more than 12 hours of evolution. The combined tests improved the predictive values.