Affiliations: Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric
Hospital/Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I,
Yaounde, Cameroon | Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,
McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada | Yaounde University Teaching Hospital/Faculty of
Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon | Health Logics, Lagos, Nigeria | Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences,
University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon
Note: [] Corresponding author: Andreas Chiabi, Department of Pediatrics,
Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde
Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital, Cameroon. Tel.: +237 99 59 83 71;
Fax: +237 22 21 24 30; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: C-reactive protein (CRP) is a biological marker currently used in
the diagnosis of several infectious diseases. It has been widely used in the
diagnosis and follow-up of treatment in neonatal sepsis. With the recent
development of newer diagnostic markers, especially procalcitonin (PCT) that
are more specific and sensitive though more expensive, the role of CRP requires
appraisal. We sought to re-examine its use in low resource settings that carry
the highest burden and mortality from neonatal sepsis. We argue that it is easy
to perform, cost-effective and is still a valuable tool for making quick
decisions in the diagnosis and management of neonatal sepsis, despite new
emerging biological markers.
