title: Procalcitonin as a marker of serious bacterial infections in febrile children younger than 3 years old.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is no perfectly sensitive or specific test for identifying young, febrile infants and children with occult serious bacterial infections (SBIs). Studies of procalcitonin (PCT), a 116-amino-acid precursor of the hormone calcitonin, have demonstrated its potential as an acute-phase biomarker for SBI. The objective of this study was to compare performance of serum PCT with traditional screening tests for detecting SBIs in young febrile infants and children.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a prospective, multicenter study on a convenience sample from May 2004 to December 2005. The study was conducted in four emergency departments (EDs): one pediatric ED and three EDs with pediatric units, all with academic faculty on staff. A total of 226 febrile children 36 months old or younger who presented to the four participating EDs and were evaluated for SBI by blood, urine, and/or cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) cultures were included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The test characteristics (with 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of the white blood cell (WBC) counts including neutrophil and band counts were compared with PCT for identifying SBI. Thirty children had SBIs (13.3%, 95% CI = 8.85 to 17.70). Four (13.3%) had bacteremia (including one with meningitis), 18 (60.0%) had urinary tract infections (UTIs), and eight (26.6%) had pneumonia. Children with SBIs had higher WBC counts (18.6 × 10(9)  ± 8.6 × 10(9) cells/L vs. 11.5 × 10(9)  ± 5.3 × 10(9) cells/L, p < 0.001), higher absolute neutrophil counts (ANCs; 10.6 × 10(9)  ± 6.7 × 10(9) cells/L vs. 5.6 × 10(9)  ± 3.8 × 10(9) cells/L, p = 0.009), higher absolute band counts (0.90 × 10(9)  ± 1.1 × 10(9) cells/L vs. 0.35 × 10(9)  ± 0.6 × 10(9) cells/L, p = 0.009), and higher PCT levels (2.9 ± 5.6 ng/mL vs. 0.4 ± 0.8 ng/mL, p = 0.021) than those without SBIs. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, the absolute band count and PCT were the two screening tests independently associated with SBI, although the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for PCT was the largest (0.80, 95% CI = 0.71 to 0.89).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Procalcitonin is a more accurate biomarker than traditional screening tests for identifying young febrile infants and children with serious SBIs. Further study on a larger cohort of young febrile children is required to definitively determine the benefit of PCT over traditional laboratory screening tests for SBIs.
authors.affiliation: Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI; Department of Emergency Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
authors.forename: Prashant
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mahajan
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grzybowski
authors.forename: Xinguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Nirupama
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kannikeswaran
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stanley
authors.forename: Bonita
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Singal
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoyle
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Borgialli
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kuppermann
mesh_terms: D016470:Bacteremia / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*; D012372:ROC Curve; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide