Abstract:Objective To detect serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) levels in infants with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) so as to investigate the significance of the two markers in identification of pathogens of infantile CAP. Methods Serum CRP and PCT levels were measured by enzyme immunoassay and immunoluminometric assay respectively in 64 infants with CAP. Results Among the 64 cases, there were 23 with positive serum CRP and/or PCT, 18 with both positive serum CRP and PCT, 3 with single positive CRP, and 2 with single positive PCT. Positive serum MP-IgM occurred in 11 cases, in which 7 cases had both positive serum CRP and PCT and 1 case had single positive CRP. Among the 30 patients with elevated WBC or neutrophil levels, there were 18 cases with positive serum CRP and/or PCT, while there were only 5 cases in the 34 patients with normal WBC or neutrophil levels. The incidence of positive serum PCT or CRP in the former was significantly higher than that in the latter ( 60.0% vs 14.7%; P< 0.01). Conclusions Detection of serum CRP or PCT levels may be of value in the differential diagnosis of infantile CAP due to bacteria, Mycoplasma or viruses.
