Impact of Procalcitonin on the Management of Children Aged 1 to 36 Month Presenting With a Fever Without a Source

St. Justine's Hospital384 enrolled

Overview

Serious bacterial infections are often difficult to detect in children with fever without source. Procalcitonin is a better blood marker of infection than White blood cell count and possibly than C-reactive protein. This could lead to a reduction in antibiotic prescription. Our objective is to evaluate the impact of Procalcitonin result on antibiotic prescription in children 1 to 36 month old with fever without source and our hypothesis is that it will lower the antibiotic prescription rate

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Masking

QUADRUPLE

Enrollment

384

Conditions

Procalcitonin Fever Without Source Bacterial Infection Bacteremia

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 1 MonthMax age: 36 Months

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Children 1-36 months * With rectal temperature \>38.0 C * And no identified source of infection after history and physical examination Exclusion Criteria: * acquired or congenital immunodeficiency

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Difference in prescription of antibiotics between the two groups, excluding those treated for a bacterial infection identified by the ED investigations

Secondary Outcomes

Difference in hospitalization rate between the two groups (excluding those hospitalized for an identified infection)

Procalcitonin sensitivity and specificity