title: A high PCT level correlates with disease severity in Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children.
abstract: Most clinicians in developed countries have limited experience in making clinical assessments of malaria disease severity and/or monitoring high-level parasitemia in febrile patients with imported malaria. Hyperparasitemia is a risk factor for severe P. falciparum malaria, and procalcitonin (PCT) has recently been related to the severity of malaria. In developed countries, where not all hospital have skilled personnel to count parasitemia, a rapid test might be useful for the prompt diagnosis of malaria but unfortunately these tests are not able to count the number of parasites. In this context, PCT might have a prognostic value for the assessment of severe malaria, especially in children with cerebral malaria. We describe two children with severe cerebral malaria, who were directly admitted to the ICU with a high level of PCT and extremely high (>25%) parasitemia. Our conclusion is that PCT may also be a measure of severity of P. falciparum malaria in children.
authors.affiliation: First Division of Infectious Diseases, Cotugno Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Novella
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Carannante
authors.affiliation: First Division of Infectious Diseases, Cotugno Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: First Division of Infectious Diseases, Cotugno Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli, Napoli, Italy.|Intensive Care Unit, Cotugno Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Fiorentino
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fraganza
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology, Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Grazia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.affiliation: Intensive Care Unit, Cotugno Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chiesa
authors.affiliation: First Division of Infectious Diseases, Cotugno Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Attanasio
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Toscana "Gabriele Monasterio", Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sbrana
authors.affiliation: Intensive Care Departement, Monaldi Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corcione
authors.affiliation: First Division of Infectious Diseases, Cotugno Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tascini
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000077332:Artesunate; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D002443:Ceftriaxone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000962:Antimalarials; D037621:Artemisinins; D000077332:Artesunate; D002443:Ceftriaxone; D002116:Calcitonin
keywords: Cytomegalovirus; Encephalitis; Hemodialysis