Procalcitonin and neopterin levels do not accurately distinguish bacterial from viral infections in ill-returned travellers with fever

Rene Witt; Robert-Jan Hassing; PP Petit; Alex Belkum; PJ van Genderen

doi:10.1016/j.trstmh.2012.01.001

Procalcitonin and neopterin levels do not accurately distinguish bacterial from viral infections in ill-returned travellers with fever

Rene Witt, Robert-Jan Hassing, PP Petit, Alex Belkum, PJ van Genderen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The diagnostic performance of procalcitonin and neopterin as markers for bacterial and viral causes of fever was evaluated in a cohort of 69 febrile travellers with known etiological agents. Our aim was to establish a decision rule to minimize empirical antibiotic treatment. Compared with C-reactive protein (CRP) and leukocyte (differential) counts, procalcitonin and neopterin had a disappointing diagnostic accuracy. Refraining from antibiotics in case of combined presence of lymphocytosis and/or CRP <= 10 mg/l would result in an 85% reduction in unwanted antibiotic treatment in patients with viral disease but in adequate antibiotic coverage of all patients with bacterial disease. (C) 2012 Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Original language	Undefined/Unknown
Pages (from-to)	264-266
Number of pages	3
Journal	Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume	106
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trstmh.2012.01.001
Publication status	Published - 2012

Research programs

EMC MM-04-28-01
EMC MM-04-28-04

Access to Document

10.1016/j.trstmh.2012.01.001

http://hdl.handle.net/1765/65439

Cite this

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title = "Procalcitonin and neopterin levels do not accurately distinguish bacterial from viral infections in ill-returned travellers with fever",

abstract = "The diagnostic performance of procalcitonin and neopterin as markers for bacterial and viral causes of fever was evaluated in a cohort of 69 febrile travellers with known etiological agents. Our aim was to establish a decision rule to minimize empirical antibiotic treatment. Compared with C-reactive protein (CRP) and leukocyte (differential) counts, procalcitonin and neopterin had a disappointing diagnostic accuracy. Refraining from antibiotics in case of combined presence of lymphocytosis and/or CRP <= 10 mg/l would result in an 85\% reduction in unwanted antibiotic treatment in patients with viral disease but in adequate antibiotic coverage of all patients with bacterial disease. (C) 2012 Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.",

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Procalcitonin and neopterin levels do not accurately distinguish bacterial from viral infections in ill-returned travellers with fever. / Witt, Rene; Hassing, Robert-Jan; Petit, PP et al.
In: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Vol. 106, No. 4, 2012, p. 264-266.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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AU - van Genderen, PJ

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