Procalcitonin to reduce antimicrobial overuse in patients with lower respiratory tract infection: time for re-evaluation of our prescription culture?

WHO has stated that overuse of antimicrobials is the main driver of resistance among microorganisms, leading to fatalities, disabilities, and increased pressure on already challenged health-care systems.1 For patients admitted to hospital with lower respiratory tract infection, measurement of the biomarker procalcitonin, a 116 amino-acid polypeptide, which can be secreted in most human tissues during bacterial infections,2,3 has been suggested as a tool to assist clinicians in deciding whether to prescribe antimicrobials.