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The level of procalcitonin in the blood stream of healthy individuals is below the limit of detection (0.01 μg/L) of clinical assays. [3] The level of procalcitonin rises in a response to a pro-inflammatory stimulus, especially of bacterial origin. It is therefore often classed as an acute phase reactant. [4]
Antibiotics are encouraged if the procalcitonin level reaches 0.25 μg/L, strongly encouraged if it reaches 0.5 μg/L, and strongly discouraged if the level is below 0.10 μg/L. [41] In people requiring hospitalization, pulse oximetry, chest radiography and blood tests – including a complete blood count, serum electrolytes, C-reactive protein ...
Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy also reduced the antibiotic use duration by 2.4 days, and there were fewer antibiotic side effects. This means that procalcitonin is useful for guiding whether to use antibiotics for acute respiratory infections and the duration of the antibiotic. [23]
Since pneumonia can take a dangerous turn, it's important to know the earliest signs of it. Dr. Zweig says that, typically, pneumonia starts as a regular viral upper respiratory infection.
The authors suggested that procalcitonin may serve as a helpful diagnostic marker for sepsis, but cautioned that its level alone does not definitively make the diagnosis. [45] More current literature recommends utilizing the PCT to direct antibiotic therapy for improved antibiotic stewardship and better patient outcomes.
Walking pneumonia, a lung infection caused by the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae, tends to be most common among older children and adolescents but in 2024 has been rampant among young children.
It can also be a substance whose detection indicates a particular disease state, for example, the presence of an antibody may indicate an infection. [7] More specifically, a biomarker indicates a change in expression or state of a protein that correlates with the risk or progression of a disease, or with the susceptibility of the disease to a ...
For most substances presented, the optimal levels are the ones normally found in the population as well. More specifically, optimal levels are generally close to a central tendency of the values found in the population. However, usual and optimal levels may differ substantially, most notably among vitamins and blood lipids, so these tables give ...