ArticlePloS one2010
Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein for invasive bacterial pneumonia diagnosis among children in Mozambique, a malaria-endemic area.
Article in PloS one, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- What are the risk factors for death among children with pneumonia in low- and middle-income countries? A systematic review.Journal of global health · 2023Pooled it
- Procalcitonin as a Candidate Biomarker for Malarial Infection and Severe Malaria: A Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- C-reactive protein as an early biomarker for malaria infection and monitoring of malaria severity: a meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Risk factors associated with disease severity among children hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia in Angola.Journal of global health · 2026Observational
- Performance of procalcitonin point-of-care tests in predicting bacterial causes of acute febrile illness in Northwest Ethiopia.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Screening and diagnostic strategies for active pulmonary tuberculosis among people in prison in Malaysia: a prospective diagnostic study.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2025Article
- A Multimodal AI Framework for Automated Multiclass Lung Disease Diagnosis from Respiratory Sounds with Simulated Biomarker Fusion and Personalized Medication Recommendation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- ePOCT+ Rwanda: A Clinical Decision Support Algorithm For Managing Sick Children Below 15 Years of Age in Primary Healthcare Settings.Rwanda journal of medicine and health sciences · 2025Article
- Article
- Procalcitonin and Presepsin as Markers of Infectious Respiratory Diseases in Children: A Scoping Review of the Literature.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Factors influencing C-reactive protein status on admission in neonates after birth.BMC pediatrics · 2024Article
- Comparison of commercially available, rapid, point-of-care C-reactive protein assays among children with febrile illness in southwestern Uganda.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Prognostic accuracy of biomarkers of immune and endothelial activation in Mozambican children hospitalized with pneumonia.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Infection Manager System (IMS) as a new hemocytometry-based bacteremia detection tool: A diagnostic accuracy study in a malaria-endemic area of Burkina Faso.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Evaluation of the diagnostic performance of laboratory-based c-reactive protein as a triage test for active pulmonary tuberculosis.PloS one · 2021Article
- Point-of-Care Biomarkers to Guide Antibiotic Prescription for Acute Febrile Illness in Sub-Saharan Africa: Promises and Caveats.Open forum infectious diseases · 2020Review
- Previously Derived Host Gene Expression Classifiers Identify Bacterial and Viral Etiologies of Acute Febrile Respiratory Illness in a South Asian Population.Open forum infectious diseases · 2020Article
- Sensitivity of C-reactive protein for the identification of patients with laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections in northern Tanzania.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2020Article
- Host-Based Prognostic Biomarkers to Improve Risk Stratification and Outcome of Febrile Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2020Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPneumonia is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in children worldwide. Procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are used in developed countries to differentiate between viral and bacterial causes of pneumonia. Validity of these markers needs to be further explored in Africa. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL
findingsWe assessed the utility of PCT and CRP to differentiate viral from invasive bacterial pneumonia in children <5 years hospitalized with clinical severe pneumonia (CSP) in rural Mozambique, a malaria-endemic area with high HIV prevalence. Prognostic capacity of these markers was also evaluated. Out of 835 children with CSP, 87 fulfilled definition of viral pneumonia and 89 of invasive bacterial pneumonia. In absence of malaria parasites, levels of PCT and CRP were lower in the viral group when compared to the invasive bacterial one (PCT: median = 0.21 versus 8.31 ng/ml, p<0.001; CRP: 18.3 vs. 185.35 mg/l, p<0.001). However, in presence of malaria parasites distribution between clinical groups overlapped (PCT: median = 23.1 vs. 21.75 ng/ml, p = 0.825; CRP: median = 96.8 vs. 217.4 mg/l, p = 0.052). None of the two markers could predict mortality.
conclusionsPresence of malaria parasites should be taken into consideration, either for clinical or epidemiological purposes, if using PCT or CRP to differentiate viral from invasive bacterial pneumonia in malaria-endemic areas.
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Registered trials
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