Serious Bacterial Infection detection by marker procalcitonin in Young Febrile Infants

Dr. Rajiv Kumar; Dr. Deepak Kumar

Volume : VI, Issue : XI, November - 2016

Serious Bacterial Infection detection by marker procalcitonin in Young Febrile Infants

Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Dr. Deepak Kumar

Abstract :

Aim and Objectives: The aim is the analysis of serum procalcitonin (PCT) to predict bacterial infection in young infants. There is no perfectly sensitive or specific test for identifying young, feile 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. Materials & Methods: In this study, 100 cases of feile infants with age less than 3 months were taken. Study was done in paediatrics department of JLNMCH, Bhagalpur, Bihar from January 2015 to January 2016. All cases were registered fulfilled the inclusion criteria. This study was done to see the role of procalcitonin in detection of serious bacterial infection in infants. Results: The test included of the PCT levels, white blood cell (WBC) counts including neutrophil for identifying SBI. Seventy two (72%) children had SBIs. Fifteen (15%) had bacteremia, 10(10.0%) had urinary tract infections (UTIs), and three (3%) had pneumonia. Children with SBIs had higher PCT level, higher absolute neutrophil counts and higher WBC levels than those without SBIs. Conclusions: Procalcitonin is a more accurate biomarker than traditional screening tests for identifying young feile infants and children with serious SBIs. Further study on a larger cohort of young feile children is required to definitively determine the benefit of PCT over traditional laboratory screening tests for SBIs.