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As an early marker of bacterial infection, procalcitonin has the potential to distinguish bacterial from viral etiologies in young febrile children. Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of prospective studies that evaluated the use of procalcitonin alone or compared to C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell count (WBC) for identifying serious bacterial infection (SBI) in children aged 7 days to 36 months with fever without a source. Among the 8 studies that met inclusion criteria (1883 patients), the definition of SBI ranged from bacteremia alone to a combination of bacteremia, pyelonephritis, lobar pneumonia, meningitis, osteoarthritis, deep abscess, bacterial gastroenteritis, and neutropenic fever.
Prevalence of SBI ranged from 3% …