The clinical significance of serum procalcitonin in the diagnosis of infectious diseases in pediatrics patients

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of serum procalcitonin(PCT)in the diagnosis of bacterial infectious diseases in pediatrics patients.Methods 106 children with various infectious diseases were enrolled in this study. Serum PCT was measured by semi-quantitative solid-phase immunoassay. C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cells (WBC) count were also determined. The difference in bacterial and viral infectious groups was compared between each index.Results Take serum PCT≥0.5ng/ml as a positive threshold, PCT was positive in 81.0% of children in bacterial infectious group, which was significantly higher than that in virus infectious groups (18.6%,P0.01). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of serum PCT test in diagnosing bacterial infectious diseases were 81.0 %, 81.4%, 86.4% and 74.5% respectively. The predictive value of PCT is better than CRP and WBC count(P0.01).Conclusion Serum PCT could be used as a sensitive and effective diagnostic marker for bacterial infection in children.