Biomarker Thresholds for Bacterial Infection in Children ≤36 Months with Fever

A systematic review and meta-analysis of 37 studies published between November 2013 and November 2023, evaluating diagnostic thresholds for C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, and interleukin-6. The analysis was conducted by Natalia Sutiman and registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023439093). The dataset is a 47.4 KB PDF containing aggregated results from the review.

Use Cases

• Validate diagnostic cut-off points for C-reactive protein (CRP) based on reported pooled sensitivity and specificity values.
• Compare the diagnostic performance of procalcitonin (PCT) against CRP for identifying serious bacterial infections in young children.
• Assess the limited evidence for interleukin-6 (IL-6) thresholds in pediatric fever without source, based on the single study included.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on data from 37 individual studies, providing a meta-analytic foundation.
• Reports specific, statistically significant cut-off ranges (e.g., CRP 10–20 mg/L, PCT <0.5 ng/mL) with confidence intervals.
• Uses established meta-analysis methods, including summary receiver operating curve (SROC) and I² for heterogeneity.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 47.4 KB PDF summary; the underlying tabular data from the 37 studies is not directly accessible.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred from the PDF text.
• Row count for the aggregated data is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for direct computational use.

Provenance

Source

Systematic review by Natalia Sutiman, published on figshare.

Collection Method

Meta-analysis of studies retrieved from MEDLINE, Cochrane, CINAHL, and Web of Science.

Time Range

Studies published between November 2013 and November 2023.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-18 07:41:05; freshness should be verified.