Role of serum procalcitonin in monitoring the response to treatment of pediatric meningitis

Introduction: A good early diagnostic and prognostic marker for bacterial meningitis will decreasethe morbidity and mortality due to this infection. Serum procalcitonin has been evaluated forusefulness in diagnosis and as a prognostic marker in bacterial meningitis. Methods: Children from5 months to 15 years of age who were cases of bacterial meningitis as per WHO Criteria and wereadmitted to the Pediatric Department in SKIMS Srinagar, Jammu, and Kashmir were taken for thestudy. A total of 45 bacterial meningitis cases participated in this prospective study. Serum PCT wasmeasured by a fluorescence immunoassay using QDX Insta check with a detection limit of 0.25-100ng/ml. Data were analyzed using standard statistical tests using SPSS 20. Results: The meanserum PCT on admission in ng/ml in the present study for bacterial meningitis was14.9293±4.49122 and after 72 hours mean serum PCT was 12.4386±4.40964). A significant drop(mean difference = 2.49086; p=0.000) in serum procalcitonin was seen after 72 hours followingantibacterial treatment. Conclusion: It was concluded that serum PCT can be used as a goodprognostic marker to see the response to treatment in bacterial meningitis.