title: [Usefulness of procalcitonin in adults and children].
abstract: In febrile children and adults, it is frequently difficult, based on the sole clinical examination, to differentiate a bacterial illness from systemic inflammatory syndromes or severe viral infections. However, the positive and rapid diagnosis of a severe bacterial infection or a sepsis is essential to initiate lifesaving therapies. Among the numerous infectious biomarkers that have recently been investigated, procalcitonin has the best diagnostic yield. Plasma levels below 0.5 microg/l usually rule out a severe bacterial disease, whereas values above 2 microg/l are strongly indicative of a bacterial sepsis. The usefulness and the limitations of the measurement of procalcitonin as a diagnostic and a prognostic tool during severe bacterial infections are discussed in this paper.
authors.affiliation: Service de pédiatrie, Département de pédiatrie, Hôpitaux universitaires de Genĕve. alain.gervaix@hcuge.ch
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gervaix
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pugin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology*; D006023:Glycoproteins; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*; D018805:Sepsis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013577:Syndrome; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D006023:Glycoproteins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide