Despite major advances in neonatal care during the past few decades, bacterial sepsis continues to be a major cause of mortality and morbidity in preterm very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. 1, 2 ...

Treatment with antibodies against T-lymphocytes usually triggers a febrile response potentially mimicking or masking infection. Procalcitonin (PCT) is considered a sensitive and specific marker of ...

Several authors have reported that PCT levels offer a better sensitivity and specificity than other markers, such as CRP, for the diagnosis of children with bacterial infections. [8,9] In this study, ...

Although clinical trials have demonstrated the utility of procalcitonin (PCT) testing and potential benefit on antibiotic stewardship, findings suggest that clinicians do not order PCT testing with ...

Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are among the most common reasons for antibiotic prescription in primary care. A test that can differentiate between bacterial and viral RTIs could help to reduce ...

Made up of a protein structure containing 116 amino acids, procalcitonin acts as a substrate for production of calcitonin – a hormone responsible for producing C-cells of the thyroid gland and ...

Since its emergence in December 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of COVID-19, has already infected more than 92 million people and claimed ...

Emergency physicians do not commonly use the tools available for risk stratifying patients with febrile neutropenia. Most decide to admit these patients, even when they are considered to be at low ...

What is the significance of a procalcitonin (PCT) level in the face of questionable pneumonia? How reliable is a PCT determination in the decision to treat or not to treat with an antibiotic? —Smriti ...

The sixth most common principal diagnosis, sepsis, also takes the title as the most expensive inpatient diagnosis, racking up about $20 billion in hospitals’ aggregated annual costs. Sepsis isn’t ...