Vol. 45 No. (4) 162-171 (2018): The Value of Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein as early markers of Bacteraemia among patients with Haematological Malignancies receiving Chemotherapy: a cross-sectional study

The immune system of patients with
haematological malignancies is suppressed during
chemotherapy. This renders them vulnerable to
frequent infections especially of the bacterial type.
Timely diagnosis of these infections is difficult,
because a severe infection may be asymptomatic or
manifest only in the form of fever or malaise. There
is need for laboratory markers that can detect an
infectious process at an early stage. This study was
aimed at determining the value of using
Procalcitonin (PCT) and C reactive protein (CRP),
for early diagnosis of infection in patients with
ha ema tologi c a l ma l ignanc i e s r e c e iving
chemotherapy.