Open Forum Infectious Diseases REVIEW ARTICLE
Using Procalcitonin to Guide Antibiotic Therapy Chanu Rhee1,2 1 Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, Massachusetts; 2Division of Infectious Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Procalcitonin levels rise in response to systemic inflammation, especially of bacterial origin. Multiple randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that procalcitonin-based algorithms can safely reduce antibiotic use in 2 clinical scenarios. First, in stable, lowrisk patients with respiratory infections, procalcitonin levels of
Using Procalcitonin to Guide Antibiotic Therapy Chanu Rhee1,2 1 Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, Massachusetts; 2Division of Infectious Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Procalcitonin levels rise in response to systemic inflammation, especially of bacterial origin. Multiple randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that procalcitonin-based algorithms can safely reduce antibiotic use in 2 clinical scenarios. First, in stable, lowrisk patients with respiratory infections, procalcitonin levels of
