#439 - 🔵 [PAS 2026] - Is Procalcitonin Plus CRP the Better Sepsis Screen for Febrile Infants?

Send us Fan MailDr. Lyubina Yankova, hospitalist at Yale, presents findings from a large retrospective multi-center analysis across 106 sites examining whether the combination of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein (CRP) can match or outperform the inflammatory marker combinations currently recommended by the 2021 AAP guidelines for risk-stratifying febrile infants between 8 and 60 days of age. She shares why this combination showed similar sensitivity but higher specificity for detecting invasive bacterial infections — meaning fewer false positives, fewer unnecessary lumbar punctures, and fewer unnecessary antibiotics. She also addresses the limitations of retrospective data, why preterm infants were excluded from this analysis and what future research in that population might look like, and what it would take for guideline committees to feel confident enough to incorporate this combination into routine practice.Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.Enjoy!