Study of Procalcitonin and neutrophil/ lymphocyte count ratio in children infected with Community-acquired pneumonia

Abstract

Objective: Investigate the expression of procalcitonin (PCT) in children infected with Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), and its correlation to the number of white blood cells (WBC), and neutrophil/ lymphocyte count ratio (NLR). The current study included sixty (60) patient suffering from acquired community pneumonia aged range between one year to larger than 6 years, gander (30) female and (30) male Childs in Al Zahara Teaching Hospitals in Najaf Provenance , during November 2020 – M arch 2021. The (30) control Child without suffering any of symptoms or criteria of acquired community pneumonia our results show a significant increment (p<0.05) in total count of leukocytes, Neutrophils, N/L ratio, lymphocytes (10⁹/L) and PCT level in Pneumonia patients group compared with control group respectively, and non-significant (p>0.05) different in biomarker procalcitonin level between female and male pneumonia child patients. Serum procalcitonin level demonstrate a statistically significant elevation (p <0.05) in the pneumonia child patient among the age (1-3 y) when compare with other ages.