ArticleIntensive care medicine2011
Can procalcitonin help identify associated bacterial infection in patients with severe influenza pneumonia? A multicentre study.
Article in Intensive care medicine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02130986 (Procalcitonin Antibiotic Consensus Trial), which is not on this map. Cited by 53 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Procalcitonin Antibiotic Consensus Trial (ProACT)
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 106 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic value of procalcitonin for identifying the etiology of lower respiratory tract infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Inflammatory Biomarkers Are Inaccurate Indicators of Bacterial Infection on Admission in Patients With Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease-A Systematic Review and Diagnostic Accuracy Network Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Pooled it
- The frequency of influenza and bacterial coinfection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2016Pooled it
- Procalcitonin for diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia in critically ill patients during 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic: a prospective cohort study, systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2014Pooled it
- Can procalcitonin tests aid in identifying bacterial infections associated with influenza pneumonia? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2013Pooled it
- C-reactive protein or procalcitonin combined with rhinorrhea for discrimination of viral from bacterial infections in hospitalized adults in non-intensive care units with lower respiratory tract infections.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Procalcitonin Levels in ICU Patients with SARS-CoV-2-Associated Viral Sepsis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Prediction of influenza virus infection based on deep learning and peripheral blood proteomics: A diagnostic study.Journal of advanced research · 2026Article
- Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic prescription in patients with respiratory syncytial virus and influenza virus.BMJ open respiratory research · 2025Article
- Clinical characteristics analysis and prediction model construction for pediatric influenza virus pneumonia complicated by bacterial infection.Translational pediatrics · 2025Article
- Severe Bacterial Superinfection of Influenza Pneumonia in Immunocompetent Young Patients: Case Reports.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Latest developments in early diagnosis and specific treatment of severe influenza infection.Journal of intensive medicine · 2024Review
- Bacterial Community- and Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia in Patients with Critical COVID-19-A Prospective Monocentric Cohort Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Prevalence of early bacterial co-infection in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia: a retrospective study.Journal of thoracic disease · 2023Article
- The Role of Procalcitonin as an Antimicrobial Stewardship Tool in Patients Hospitalized with Seasonal Influenza.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Role of Biomarkers in Influenza and COVID-19 Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Coinfection and superinfection in ICU critically ill patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia and influenza pneumonia: are the pictures different?Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Diagnostic Accuracy of Procalcitonin upon Emergency Department Admission during SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Low Levels of Procalcitonin Are Related to Decreased Antibiotic Use in Children Hospitalized Due to Influenza.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 11 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo determine whether procalcitonin (PCT) levels could help discriminate isolated viral from mixed (bacterial and viral) pneumonia in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) during the A/H1N1v2009 influenza pandemic.
methodsA retrospective observational study was performed in 23 French ICUs during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Levels of PCT at admission were compared between patients with confirmed influenzae A pneumonia associated or not associated with a bacterial co-infection.
resultsOf 103 patients with confirmed A/H1N1 infection and not having received prior antibiotics, 48 (46.6%; 95% CI 37-56%) had a documented bacterial co-infection, mostly caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (54%) or Staphylococcus aureus (31%). Fifty-two patients had PCT measured on admission, including 19 (37%) having bacterial co-infection. Median (range 25-75%) values of PCT were significantly higher in patients with bacterial co-infection: 29.5 (3.9-45.3) versus 0.5 (0.12-2) μg/l (P < 0.01). For a cut-off of 0.8 μg/l or more, the sensitivity and specificity of PCT for distinguishing isolated viral from mixed pneumonia were 91 and 68%, respectively. Alveolar condensation combined with a PCT level of 0.8 μg/l or more was strongly associated with bacterial co-infection (OR 12.9, 95% CI 3.2-51.5; P < 0.001).
conclusionsPCT may help discriminate viral from mixed pneumonia during the influenza season. Levels of PCT less than 0.8 μg/l combined with clinical judgment suggest that bacterial infection is unlikely.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.