The diagnosis of neonatal sepsis is difficult because clinical manifestation is non-specific. Timely detection and treatment will help in decreasing mortality and morbidity. Blood culture is gold standard but the diagnosis is often retrospective. Thus there is a need for an alternative method which is more rapid, reliable and sensitive. This study was designed to determine the sensitivity, specificity, NPV, PPV and accuracy of hs-CRP, IL-6 and PCT levels, as a diagnostic marker of EONS. 206 neonates with sign and symptoms of sepsis admitted in NICU were included in this study. Blood culture was performed by Bac T/Alert 3D method, hs-CRP, IL-6 and PCT by ELISA. Low birth weight and prematurity were the most common risk factors present in 74% of EOS and 66% of LOS cases. Prolonged IV antibiotics were a risk factor in 26.4% in EOS and 50% in LOS. CoNS (44.1%) was the predominant bacterial pathogen isolated, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (11.7%), Escherichia coli (11.7%), Acinetobacter baumanii (8.8%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (8.8%) in EOS cases. Cut off value of 5 mg/ml for hs-CRP, <20 pg/ml for IL-6 and <12 pg/ml for PCT were taken as negative. PCT is more sensitive and specific in EOS than IL-6 followed by hs-CRP. Both PCT and IL-6 are equally good markers, if patient presented later.

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