Procalcitonin-Guided Antibiotic Use vs a Standard Approach for Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in Primary Care

Abstract

As an adjunct to guidelines, procalcitonin-guided therapy markedly reduces antibiotic use for acute respiratory tract infections in primary care without compromising patient outcome. In practice, this could be achieved with 1 to 2 procalcitonin measurements in patients for whom the physician intends to prescribe antibiotics.