Characteristics of studies included in the review
| Study | Year | Reference | Population | Criterion standard | “Test” |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scanlon | 1971 | 50 | “Newborn infants” | Positive blood culture | External ear canal swab (M and C) |
| Scanlon | 1972 | 49 | “Newborn infants” | Positive blood culture | External ear canal swab (M and C); gastric aspirate (M and C) |
| Boyle | 1978 | 12 | Infants admitted with respiratory distress (25–40 weeks gestation) | Positive blood culture | Total WCC; neutrophil count; gastric aspirate |
| Squire | 1979 | 55 | Infants who died within 72 h of admission (term and preterm) | Extensive inflammation at necropsy plus positive culture of blood, CSF, lung, or other body fluid | Total WCC; neutrophil count; platelet count |
| Voora | 1982 | 58 | Term newborn infants admitted to NICU because of fever | Positive blood culture | Total WCC |
| El-Radhi | 1983 | 22 | Infants <22 days | Positive culture of blood, urine, or CSF, or radiological diagnosis of pneumonia | Gastric aspirate (M and C) |
| Adhikari | 1986 | 9 | LBW infants in NICU <1 week old | Positive blood culture | CRP |
| King | 1987 | 33 | Infants <8 weeks old admitted with fever | Positive blood culture or CSF | Total WCC, I:T ratio |
| Leibovich | 1987 | 36 | Newborn infants | Positive blood culture | Gastric aspirate (M) |
| Evans | 1988 | 23 | Infants admitted to NICU (mean gestation 35 weeks) | Positive blood or CSF culture or other body fluid “as appropriate” | Ear canal swabs; axilla swab; ET aspirate; gastric aspirate; NP swab; rectal swab; skin swab; umbilical swab (all C) |
| Koenig | 1988 | 34 | Infants <3 months referred from community | Positive blood or urine culture | WCC >15 000/mm3 plus I/T ratio >0.2 |
| Misra | 1989 | 38 | Infants <7 days | Positive blood culture | Total WCC; I/T ratio; platelet count |
| Rigal | 1990 | 45 | Intubated newborn infants (28–44 weeks gestation) | Open lung biopsy: positive culture and pathological diagnosis | ET aspirate © |
| Seibert | 1990 | 52 | Infants ⩽31 weeks | Positive blood culture | CRP; total WCC; I/T ratio; combination |
| Bonadio | 1991 | 11 | infants ⩽8 weeks old | Positive blood, CSF, urine culture | Neutrophil count |
| Thomson | 1992 | 56 | Infants <33 weeks gestation admitted to NICU | Positive blood or CSF culture | Gastric aspirate (M and C); ear swab (C); nasal swab (C); umbilical swab (C) |
| Peakman | 1992 | 39 | Infants admitted to NICU (25–40 weeks gestation) | Positive blood/CSF culture; heavy growth in urine or >1 surface swab | Total WCC; neutrophil count; platelet count; CRP |
| Hiew | 1992 | 31 | Infants ⩽3 months old | Positive bacterial culture (blood, CSF, urine, pustule, sputum, umbilicus) | Total WCC; neutrophil count; I:T ratio; platelet count; CRP; combination |
| Krediet | 1992 | 35 | Infants admitted to NICU (24–44 weeks gestation) | Positive blood or CSF culture or pneumonia diagnosed on CXR and positive ET aspirate culture | CRP; I:T ratio; combination |
| Pourcyrous | 1993 | 42 | Infants admitted to NICU (23–44 weeks gestation) | Positive blood or CSF culture | CRP |
| Rodwell | 1993 | 47 | Neutropenic newborn infants (25 weeks to term) | Positive blood/ CSF culture; necropsy evidence of infection | Haematology score1-151 |
| Edgar | 1994 | 21 | Infants admitted to NICU (23–39 weeks gestation) | Decision based on clinical course, blood culture results, and haematology indices | CRP |
| Philip | 1994 | 40 | Infants admitted to NICU | Positive blood or CSF culture or pneumonia diagnosed on CXR and positive ET aspirate culture | CRP; I:T ratio; combination |
| Wagle | 1994 | 59 | Infants <30 weeks | Positive culture of blood, CSF, or urine | CRP |
| DaSilva | 1994 | 18 | Neonates after day 4 admitted to NICU (mean gestation 28 weeks) | Positive blood or CSF culture | Total WCC; I:T ratio; band cell count; combination |
↵1-151 Based on total white cell count, immature:total white cell ratio, total neutrophil count, immature:mature neutrophil ratio, regenerative changes in neutrophils, and platelet count.61C = culture; CRP = C reactive protein; CSF = cerebrospinal fluid; CXR = chest x ray; ET = endotracheal; I:T ratio = immature:total white cell ratio; LBW = low birth weight; M = microscopy; NICU = neonatal intensive care unit; NP = nasopharyngeal; WCC = white cell count.