Clinical outcomes associated with procalcitonin algorithms to guide antibiotic therapy in respiratory tract infections.

Abstract

In patients with respiratory tract infection, is measurement of procalcitonin to guide antibiotic prescriptions associated with reduced antibiotic exposure without increases in all-cause mortality or treatment failure? The measurement of procalcitonin to guide initiation and duration of antibiotic treatment in patients with respiratory tract infections of varying severity is associated with lower antibiotic exposure without increasing all-cause mortality or treatment failure.