Diagnostic accuracy of three biomarkers in identifying serious bacterial infections in children younger than 36 months with fever without source / Acurateţea diagnostică a trei biomarkeri în identificarea infecţiilor bacteriene severe la copiii cu vârsta sub 36 luni cu febră fără focar

Objectives: Our study aimed to evaluate and compare the accuracy of C-reactive protein, Procalcitonin and Interleukine-6 in identifying serious bacterial infections (SBI) in children with fever without source.

Methods: 139 children, aged 7 days to 36 months, addressing the Emergency Department from a Romanian university hospital, were prospectively enrolled during 2013. C-reactive protein, Procalcitonin and Interleukin-6 were determined for every patient. SBI diagnosis was based on cultures results and chest radiographs.

Results: 31 patients (22.3%) had SBI. C-reactive protein [AUC: 0.87 (95%CI: 0.81-0.92)] and Procalcitonin [AUC: 0.83 (95%CI: 0.76-0.89)] proved strong prediction value for SBI and performed better than Interleukin-6 [AUC: 0.77 (95%CI: 0.69-0.84)]. For the group of children with the duration of fever less than 8 hours, Interleukin- 6 was the best predictor [AUC: 0.88 (0.76-0.95)].

Conclusions: Both C-reactive protein and Procalcitonin are strong and similar predictors for SBI, and Interleukin- 6 might be a better SBI screening tool for children with shorter duration of fever.