Abstract:
Objective:
To observe the application of combined detection of white blood cell count, procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in the diagnosis of children with community-acquired pneumonia.
Methods:
A total of 106 children with community-acquired pneumonia treated in our hospital from August 2016 to July 2017 were enrolled as study subjects. According to infection type, the patients were divided into bacteria group(57 cases) and non-bacteria group(49 cases). Bacteria group were divided into Gram-positive bacteria group(26 cases) and Gram-negative bacteria group(31 cases); there were 19 cases in severe infection group and 38 cases in non-severe group. Sixty healthy children in the same period were included as the control group. The WBC, procalcitonin and C-reactive protein levels of the two groups were compared.
Results:
The level of white blood cell count and procalcitonin level in bacteria group were significantly higher than those in non-bacteria group and control group(P＜0.05); the level of C-reactive protein in bacteria group and non-bacteria group were significantly higher than that in control group(P＜0.05) . The level of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in severe infection group were significantly higher than that in non-severe group(P＜0.05). The level of procalcitonin in Gram-negative bacteria group was significantly higher than that in Gram-positive bacteria group(P＜0.05), but the level of white blood cell count and C-reactive protein was not statistically different between the two groups. After treatment, the level of white blood cell, procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in bacteria group gradually decreased, which returned to normal level before hospital discharge.
Conclusion:
The combination detection of peripheral white blood cell, procalcitonin and C-reactive protein can help to make preliminary diagnosis of bacteria and nonbacteria infection in children with community-acquired pneumonia. The level of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein can be used to assess the disease severity, guide the clinical antibiotic treatment and evaluate the treatment results.

Key words: Community-acquired pneumonia, Procalcitonin, White blood cell count, C-reactive protein, Child