{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T08:47:41Z","timestamp":1789116461369,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,27]],"date-time":"2022-05-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1653609600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004362","name":"Schweizerische Herzstiftung","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004362","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Cardiovascular Research Institute of Basel"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100016545","name":"Roche Diagnostics","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100016545","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\"><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Inflammatory biomarkers are associated with severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, direct comparisons of their utility in COVID-19 versus other respiratory infections are largely missing.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec002\"><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>We aimed to investigate the prognostic utility of various inflammatory biomarkers in COVID-19 compared to patients with other respiratory infections.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec003\"><jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Patients presenting to the emergency department with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 were prospectively enrolled. Levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6), c-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, ferritin, and leukocytes were compared between COVID-19, other viral respiratory infections, and bacterial pneumonia. Primary outcome was the need for hospitalisation, secondary outcome was the composite of intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death at 30 days.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec004\"><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Among 514 patients with confirmed respiratory infections, 191 (37%) were diagnosed with COVID-19, 227 (44%) with another viral respiratory infection (viral controls), and 96 (19%) with bacterial pneumonia (bacterial controls). All inflammatory biomarkers differed significantly between diagnoses and were numerically higher in hospitalized patients, regardless of diagnoses. Discriminative accuracy for hospitalisation was highest for IL-6 and CRP in all three diagnoses (in COVID-19, area under the curve (AUC) for IL-6 0.899 [95%CI 0.850\u20130.948]; AUC for CRP 0.922 [95%CI 0.879\u20130.964]). Similarly, IL-6 and CRP ranged among the strongest predictors for ICU admission or death at 30 days in COVID-19 (AUC for IL-6 0.794 [95%CI 0.694\u20130.894]; AUC for CRP 0.807 [95%CI 0.721\u20130.893]) and both controls. Predictive values of inflammatory biomarkers were generally higher in COVID-19 than in controls.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec005\"><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>In patients with COVID-19 and other respiratory infections, inflammatory biomarkers harbour strong prognostic information, particularly IL-6 and CRP. Their routine use may support early management decisions.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0269005","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,27]],"date-time":"2022-05-27T17:31:45Z","timestamp":1653672705000},"page":"e0269005","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":31,"title":["Clinical utility of inflammatory biomarkers in COVID-19 in direct comparison to other respiratory infections\u2014A prospective cohort 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