Procalcitonin Identifies Bacterial Coinfections in Vietnamese Children with Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus Pneumonia

Abstract EN

This study assessed the diagnostic value of interleukin- (IL-) 6, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) in differentiating severe pneumonia caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) alone and RSV with bacterial coinfections among Vietnamese children under 5 years old.

A cross-sectional study on 70 children with severe RSV pneumonia was conducted.

IL-6, hs-CRP, and PCT tests were performed.

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was employed to measure the diagnostic values of PCT, IL-6, and hs-CRP.

Of 70 children, 11 children were confirmed to have bacterial coinfections.

The most common bacterial coinfection was Haemophilus influenzae.

This study underlined that inflammatory biomarkers such as PCT had a moderate-to-high capability of disseminating severe pneumonia children with RSV alone or RSV and bacterial coinfections.

This may support clinicians in administrating appropriate antibiotics to children suffering from severe RSV pneumonia.