NIH study will assess biomarker as indicator of viral lower respiratory tract infection

(NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) A new clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, 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.