Procalcitonin for the diagnosis of bacterial infections and guidance of antibiotic treatment in patients with non-specific complaints

A method for diagnosing a bacterial infection in a patient who presented to the emergency department with non-specific complaints, comprising the steps of:

• (i) providing a sample from a patient who presented with non-specific complaints;
• (ii) determining the level of Procalcitonin (PCT) or a fragment thereof of at least 12 amino acids in length in said sample;
• and
• (iii) determining whether said patient has a bacterial infection or not by comparing said determined PCT level with a predetermined threshold level,
• wherein the predetermined threshold level is between 0.02 ng/mL and 0.25 ng/mL.