Early diagnosis of neonatal bacteremia by buffy-coat examination.

This study demonstrates the value of the buffy-coat smear examination in the early diagnosis of neonatal bacteremia. It is inexpensive, easy to perform, and relatively efficient. In most situations large numbers of bacteria could be seen in each positive smear. Unfortunately, the presence of a positive buffy-coat smear was often associated with a poor prognosis; more than one half (four of seven) of infants with positive smears died.