A new clinical trial led by principal investigator Ephraim Tsalik, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine (Infectious Diseases), aims to determine whether low blood levels of the protein procalcitonin can reliably indicate whether a person’s lower respiratory tract infection will improve with antibiotic treatment.
The trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, will enroll patients 18 years of age or older with suspected LRTIs and low PCT blood levels (0.25 ng/mL or less). The patients’ blood will be tested for PCT levels using bioMérieux’s VIDAS® BRAHMS PCT™ test. After their PCT levels have been confirmed, as many as 420 patients will be randomized to receive either a 5-day regimen of the oral antibiotic azithromycin (500 mg as a single dose on day one followed by 250 mg once daily for four days) or placebo. Patients whose symptoms worsen will be immediately referred for appropriate care. At day five, all the patients will be evaluated for improvement in their symptoms. Additional follow-up with the patients will occur on days 11 and 28 to determine their health status.