C-Reactive Protein for Pulmonary Tuberculosis Screening and Treatment Response Monitoring in Children.
Joy Githua, Jerphason Mecha, Joshua Stern, Jaclyn N Escudero, Lilian Njagi, Lucy Kijaro, Jacqueline Mirera, Wilfred Murithi, et al. (12 authors)
Open forum infectious diseases · 2026-02
Abstract
C-reactive protein (CRP) was evaluated as a biomarker for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and treatment response monitoring in 292 Kenyan children. Although diagnostic sensitivity was suboptimal (35.5%-50.0%), the median CRP level decreased during TB treatment in children with confirmed (= .02) or unconfirmed (< .001) TB, primarily among those with baseline CRP elevation ≥5 mg/L (40% [39 of 97]).