Value of serum procalcitonin in diagnosis of infectious diseases in children at an outpatient department

Objective To evaluate the value of serum procalcitonin(PCT)in diagnosis of infectious diseases in children at an outpatient department.Methods Serum PCT value of 166 children with fever(98in bacterial infection group,68in non-bacterial infection group)and 60 healthy children(control group)were detected by semi-quantitative solid phase immunoassay,and blood routine test and C-reactive protein(CRP)were also detected simultaneously,results of three groups were compared.Results In bacterial infection group,the positive rates of PCT,CRP,white blood cell(WBC)count,and percentage of neutrophils were 92.86%(98 cases),88.78%(87 cases),86.73%(85 cases),and 81.63%(80 cases)respectively,which were significantly higher than those of non-bacterial infection group(10.29%[7 cases],27.94%[19 cases],25.00%[17 cases],26.47%[18 cases])and control group(6.67%[4cases],5.00%[3 cases],8.33%[5cases],11.67%[7cases])respectively(P0.01).Sensitivity(92.86%),specificity(89.71%)and Youden's index(82.56)of serum PCT detection of bacterial infection group were all higher than those of CRP(88.78%,72.06%,60.84 respectively)and WBC(86.73%,75.00% and 42.30 respectively)and percentage of neutrophil(81.63%,73.53%and55.15 respectively).Conclusion PCT can be used as an indicator of the rapid diagnosis of early bacterial infection in children,and is with better sensitivity and specificity than the other inflammatory markers.