الفهرس 
Neonatal SepsisOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Fungal infections are sever infectious complications frequently observed in neonates and are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients.
Diagnosis of fungal infections in neonates has been difficult because of insufficient sensitivity and specificity of conventional culture methods, and also by procedures that depend on the host functioning immune system, but within recent years, novel serological and molecular methods have been developed to improve the early diagnosis of invasive fungal infections which is essential for adequate therapeutic management.
Candida mannan Ag is a polysaccharide non-covalently bound to the yeast cell-wall and represents a major component of the C. albicans cell wall, composing up to 7% of the cell dry weight, and it is a highly immunogenic polysaccharide antigen with immunomodulating properties.
The aim of our study was to evaluate the serum concentration of Candida mannan Ag in neonate infants as a diagnostic and prognostic marker of neonatal fungal sepsis.
In this study, Candida mannan Ag was measured in 36 neonates diagnosed as having sepsis, and 36 healthy neonates with no clinical signs or laboratory evidence for sepsis serving as a control group.
This study showed that there is a high incidence of fungal infection in neonates admitted in NICU as 47.2% of cases had positive Candida mannan Ag.
To conclude, this study demonstrated that fungal infection is very common in NICU, long use of antibiotics, long stay in NICU, total parenteral nutrition, mechanical ventilation, and major surgery are risk factors for candidemia. Thrombocytopenia value is the major significant markers of systemic candidiasis.
Negative result of the test for the presence of antigen does not exclude IC. A low concentration of rapidly eliminated antigen during the course of infection may show false-negative because of these antigens are present in the blood stream only transiently, and they are eliminated by forming immune complexes as well as via endocytosis by Kupffer cells in the liver.
So Regular sampling and monitoring for the presence of mannan in the serum is vital for the patients.
Also Parallel monitoring of circulating mannan and antimannan antibodies provided rapid results with high sensitivity (80%) and specificity (93%).