Thrombocytosis As Potential Diagnostic Tool for Serious Bacterial Infection In Febrile Infants; Srinagar, India

Objective: To estimate incidence of Reactive Thrombocytosis among febrile infants and assess utility of platelet count as a potential predictor and diagnostic tool of serious bacterial infection .Design:Prospective non randomized study conducted between April 2011 to March 2012Setting: Tertiary care pediatric unit.Inclusion criteria:All infants 30 to 89 days of age, admitted with rectal temperature >38°C/100.4°F without apparent focus of an infection.Exclusion criteria:Infants having fever more than 72 hours and who had received antibiotics or vaccination within 48 hours of presentation.Main Outcome Measures: sepsis evaluation was done on admission. SBI included all cases of occult bacteremia, urinary tract infection, bacterial meningitis, pneumonia, bacterial gastroenteritis and infections of the soft tissues and bones.Results: Of the 149 infants studied, 39 (26.2%) had SBI. Platelet count was significantly higher in infants with SBI compared to those without {Platelet count ≥ 4 lakh /mm3 in SBI (84.6%) vs non SBI (542.4% ). Mean platelet count 5.1 ± 1.1 in SBI versus 3.9 ± 1.6 in non SBI which was statistically significant P