RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Use of procalcitonin for antibiotic stewardship in patients with COVID-19: A quality improvement project in a district general hospital
JF Clinical Medicine
JO Clin Med
FD Royal College of Physicians
SP e71
OP e76
DO 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0614
VO 21
IS 1
A1 Peters, Christina
A1 Williams, Kelly
A1 Un, Elena A
A1 Little, Louisa
A1 Saad, Abeer
A1 Lendrum, Katherine
A1 Thompson, Naomi
A1 Weatherley, Nicholas D
A1 Pegden, Amanda
YR 2021
UL http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/21/1/e71.abstract
AB Antibiotic stewardship during the COVID-19 pandemic is an important part of a comprehensive strategy to improve patient outcomes and reduce long-term adverse effects secondary to rising antibiotic resistance. This report describes a quality improvement project which incorporates the use of procalcitonin (PCT) testing to rationalise antibiotic prescribing in patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 at Chesterfield Royal Hospital. Data were collected from 118 patients with a total of 127 PCT levels checked over a period of 20 days. Each PCT level was correlated with the subsequent antibiotic outcome as well as the result of the COVID-19 PCR swab. Results indicate that antibiotics were either never started or were stopped within 48 hours in 72% of COVID-confirmed cases with a PCT less than 0.25 μg/L. Our findings suggest that procalcitonin testing, when used in combination with thorough clinical assessment, is a safe, simple and sustainable way of reducing antibiotic use in COVID-19.