Know How to Use Procalcitonin Levels to Decrease Antibiotic Use

We're getting questions about using procalcitonin levels to shorten antibiotic courses.

Procalcitonin is a hormone whose levels increase during bacterial infections...but not viral. So it's useful to help identify patients who may benefit from antibiotics.

Procalcitonin can also help you determine when to stop antibiotics...since levels drop quickly as bacterial infections resolve.