Might procalcitonin help predict imported falciparum malaria in children?

Background: Procalcitonin (PCT) has been proposed as a marker for malaria severity in adults, with a threshold of 10 ng/ml for severe falciparum disease. Whether PCT is useful in children is debated.
Patients & Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted to compare initial PCT levels in children with uncomplicated malaria and a control group, and between children with uncomplicated and severe malaria.
Results: Results showed significantly higher PCT levels in malaria cases compared to the control group and in malaria severe cases compared to uncomplicated cases. A Receiving Operator Characteristic curve established a PCT threshold of 0.65 ng/ml with a negative predictive value of 98.8 % based on a prevalence of 10 %. Analyzing the pooled results of five studies suggested a threshold of 6.17 ng/ml for differentiating uncomplicated and severe malaria.
Conclusion: PCT might be a useful tool to help rule out malaria and predict potential disease severity in returning travelers.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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