The Role of Procalcitonin in Antimicrobial Stewardship among Cancer Patients Admitted with COVID-19
Open Forum Infectious Diseases
; 8(SUPPL 1):S282, 2021.
Article
in English
| EMBASE | ID: covidwho-1746638
ABSTRACT
Background. Procalcitonin (PCT) has been used to guide antimicrobial therapy in bacterial infections. With the wide spread use of empiric use of antibiotics in cancer patients admitted with COVID-19 disease, we aimed to evaluate the role of PCT in decreasing the duration of empiric antimicrobial therapy among cancer patients admitted with COVID-19. Methods. We conducted a retrospective study of cancer patients admitted to MD Anderson Cancer Center who had a PCT test done within 72 hours of admission following their COVID-19 diagnosis between March 1, 2020 and June 6, 2021. Patients were divided into 2 groups of PCT < 0.25 ng/mL and PCT >=0.25 ng/mL. We assessed pertinent cultures including blood and respiratory, as well as antibacterial use and duration of empiric antibacterial therapy. Results. We identified 544 patients with a median age of 62 years (range, 14-93). There were 312 (57%) patients that had at least one culture obtained from a sterile or infected site within 7 days following admission. None of the patients who had PCT< 0.25 had a positive culture whereas 41/111 (37%) patients with PCT >= 0.25 had at least one positive culture [P< 0.0001]. Among the 373 patients who had a PCT < 0.25, 129 (35%) patients received more than 72 hours of IV antibiotics compared to 87/171 (51%) among patients with PCT >=0.25 [P= 0.0003]. Conclusion. These results confirm the correlation between a PCT level greater than 0.25 and a documented bacterial infection. Furthermore, procalcitonin could be useful in enhancing antimicrobial stewardship in cancer patients with COVID-19 by reducing the duration of antimicrobial therapy beyond the initial empiric 72 hours until PCT results become available.
antibiotic agent; antiinfective agent; procalcitonin; adolescent; adult; aged; antibiotic therapy; antimicrobial stewardship; bacterial infection; cancer center; cancer patient; conference abstract; controlled study; coronavirus disease 2019; drug therapy; female; human; major clinical study; male; middle aged; protein function; retrospective study
Full text:
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Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
EMBASE
Language:
English
Journal:
Open Forum Infectious Diseases
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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