Observational studyPloS one2022
Baseline procalcitonin as a predictor of bacterial infection and clinical outcomes in COVID-19: A case-control study.
Observational study in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic performance of procalcitonin for predicting bloodstream infection and guidance on microbial aetiology: a prospective study at an Egyptian tertiary care hospital.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Mapping Interactions Between Cytokines, Chemokines, Growth Factors, and Conventional Biomarkers in COVID-19 ICU-Patients.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Bilateral Peritonsillar Abscesses Subsequent to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Case Report.Cureus · 2025Article
- Procalcitonin Level and Antimicrobial Resistance among Microbial Coinfection in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients.Reports of biochemistry & molecular biology · 2025Article
- The use and misuse of procalcitonin in the management of pneumonia: a retrospective analysis at a large tertiary care center.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2025Article
- Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9 Induction in COVID-19 Is Poorly Associated with Disease Severity and Cholesterol Levels.Infectious disease reports · 2024Article
- Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein as diagnostic biomarkers in COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 sepsis patients: a comparative study.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Are C-reactive protein and procalcitonin safe and useful for antimicrobial stewardship purposes in patients with COVID-19? A scoping review.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2024Article
- Plasma Insulin-like Growth Factor-Binding Protein-2 of Critically Ill Patients Is Related to Disease Severity and Survival.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- [Bacterial coinfection in the critically-ill COVID-19 patient: incidence, impact and need for antimicrobial therapy].Revista espanola de quimioterapia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia · 2023Article
- Noninvasive diagnosis of secondary infections in COVID-19 by sequencing of plasma microbial cell-free DNA.iScience · 2023Article
- Reduced Reliability of Procalcitonin (PCT) as a Biomarker of Bacterial Superinfection: Concerns about PCT-Driven Antibiotic Stewardship in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients-Results from a Retrospective Observational Study in Intensive Care Units.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Epidemiology of Bloodstream Infections in Hospitalized Patients-Experience from a 4th Military Clinical Hospital in Poland.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Prevalence of early bacterial co-infection in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia: a retrospective study.Journal of thoracic disease · 2023Article
- Prevalence and Epidemiological and Clinical Features of Bacterial Infections in a Large Cohort of Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19 in Southern Italy: A Multicenter Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Hematological Parameters and Procalcitonin as Discriminants between Bacterial Pneumonia-Induced Sepsis and Viral Sepsis Secondary to COVID-19: A Retrospective Single-Center Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Observational
- Nonutility of procalcitonin for diagnosing bacterial pneumonia in patients with severe COVID-19.European clinical respiratory journal · 2023Article
- Are Nutraceuticals Effective in COVID-19 and Post-COVID Prevention and Treatment?Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Article
- In-Hospital Antibiotic Use for COVID-19: Facts and Rationales Assessed through a Mixed-Methods Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
24 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purposeCoronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is associated with a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms including acute respiratory failure. Biomarkers that can predict outcomes in patients with COVID-19 can assist with patient management. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether procalcitonin (PCT) can predict clinical outcome and bacterial superinfection in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).
methodsAdult patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 by nasopharyngeal PCR who were admitted to a tertiary care center in Boston, MA with SARS-CoV-2 infection between March 17 and April 30, 2020 with a baseline PCT value were studied. Patients who were presumed positive for SARS-CoV-2, who lacked PCT levels, or who had a positive urinalysis with negative cultures were excluded. Demographics, clinical and laboratory data were extracted from the electronic medical records.
results324 patient charts were reviewed and grouped by clinical and microbiologic outcomes by day 28. Baseline PCT levels were significantly higher for patients who were treated for true bacteremia (p = 0.0005) and bacterial pneumonia (p = 0.00077) compared with the non-bacterial infection group. Baseline PCT positively correlated with the NIAID ordinal scale and survival over time. When compared to other inflammatory biomarkers, PCT showed superiority in predicting bacteremia.
conclusionsBaseline PCT levels are associated with outcome and bacterial superinfection in patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2.
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Registered trials
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