Procalcitonin assay trial: part of initiative to reduce exposure to antibiotics

More people die each year from sepsis than cancers of the breast and prostate, and HIV/AIDS combined. In the UK alone, it claims 31,000 lives each year, with 1000 cases a year affecting children under five. The financial impact of sepsis is not just the £2 billion it costs the NHS every year, but the devastating effect it can have, often resulting in organ failure and death if undiagnosed or a patient is treated too late.

Procalcitonin (PCT), a prohormone of calcitonin, is an inflammatory marker with a high specificity for bacterial infection. It has been observed as a useful adjunct in determining whether or not a patient has sepsis. A negative procalcitonin result is a point of reassurance to support the cessation of antibiotic treatment, reducing unnecessary associated costs and side-effects. NHS England has made it a requirement for hospitals to use the updated national early warning score (NEWS2) on acute wards, to help identify deteriorating patients.

An initiative by the biochemistry laboratory at Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital is designed to explore ways of reducing the impact of such life-threatening infections, while addressing antimicrobial resistance. Its long-term objective is to spearhead new protocols for speeding up appropriate treatment of sepsis with antibiotics within the hospital, placing particular emphasis on patient safety.