C-reactive protein as a marker of serious bacterial infections in hospitalized febrile infants.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the potential predictive power of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a marker of serious bacterial infection (SBI) in hospitalized febrile infants aged < or =3 months.


METHODS
Data on blood CRP levels were collected prospectively on admission for all infants aged < or =3 months who were hospitalized for fever from 2005 to 2008. The patients were divided into two groups by the presence or absence of findings of SBI.


RESULTS
A total of 892 infants met the inclusion criteria, of whom 102 had a SBI. Mean CRP level was significantly higher in the infants who had a bacterial infection than in those who did not (5.3 +/- 6.3 mg/dL vs. 1.3 +/- 2.2 mg/dL, p < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.74 (95% CI: 0.67-0.80) for CRP compared to 0.70 (95% CI: 0.64-0.76) for white blood cell (WBC) count. When analyses were limited to predicting bacteremia or meningitis only, the AUCs for CRP and WBC were 0.81 (95% CI: 0.66-0.96) and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.42-0.83), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
C-reactive protein is a valuable laboratory test in the assessment of febrile infants aged < or =3 months old and may serve as a better diagnostic marker of SBI than total WBC count.
Bilavsky
Efraim
E
Department of Paediatrics C, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqva, Israel. yoji@netvision.net.il
Yarden-Bilavsky
Havatzelet
H
Ashkenazi
Shai
S
Amir
Jacob
J
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000097:blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D019370:Observation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein