Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: N/A
Brief Summary: Objective: To evaluate PCT as a marker of bacterial community acquired pneumonia in a Danish Hospital setting. To test if it is possible to reduce the use of antibiotics and the length of stay in hospital, and the willingness of the clinicians to take this new marker under advisement in their choice of treatment.

The study is a randomised, controlled intervention study. All adult patients admitted to the Department of Infectious Disease at Skejby hospital suspected of a lower respiratory tract infection (e.g. CAP, acute exacerbation of COPD and bronchitis) are eligible for inclusion. Patients are randomised to have either PCT guided treatment or standard care, in which case the doctor will not learn the PCT test result. In the PCT group the antibiotic treatment will be based on serum PCT as follows: If PCT is less than 0.25 µg/L antibiotic treatment is discouraged; if PCT is greater than 0.25 µg/L antibiotic treatment is encouraged and if PCT is greater than 0.5 µg/L antibiotic treatment is strongly encouraged. The treating doctor is allowed to overrule the treatment guidelines. The control group will receive antibiotics according to usual practice.

The primary endpoints are antibiotic use and length of stay in hospital. Secondary endpoint is the proportion of patients where the treating doctor chooses to disregard the guidelines.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

* age \> 17 years
* patients in intensive care unit
* signed informed consent
* suspected or confirmed severe sepsis or septic shock

Exclusion Criteria:

* Infections caused by Listeria spp, Legionella pneumophilia, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
* Bacteremia due S. aureus
* Infections requiring prolonged therapies, such as endocarditis, cerebral abscess, chronic osteomyelitis
* Suspected or confirmed infection caused by virus, parasites
* Infections caused by P. aeruginosa ou A. baumannii
* Severe immunosuppression (ex: AIDS, post bone-marrow transplant,cystic fibrosis)
* Traumatism latest five days
* Surgery latest 5 days
* Carcinoid tumor, lung cancer, medullary thyroid cancer
B: Inclusion Criteria:

* suspected lower respiratory tract infection
* must be able to give consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* age under 18 years
* not able to give consent
* admitted not primarily because of the respiratory tract infection
* hospital acquired infections
C: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients with clinically suspected or microbiologically confirmed bacterial sepsis
2. Informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients with microbiologically documented infections caused by the following microorganisms: Listeria spp, Legionella pneumophilia, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Staphylococcus aureus
2. Patients with fungal infections
3. Patients with severe infections due to viruses or parasites (e.g. hemorrhagic fever, malaria)
4. Patients with suspected or confirmed bacterial meningitis or endocarditis
5. Patients with localized, deep-seated abscesses (e.g. brain abscess) without systemic sepsis
6. Patients with chronic, localized infections (e.g. chronic osteomyelitis) without systemic sepsis
7. Neutropenic and other severely immuno-compromised patients (patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus and a CD4 count \< 200; patients on immuno-suppressive therapy after solid organ transplantation; patients with cystic fibrosis)
8. Withholding of life-support
9. Early discharge or death (\< 24 hours after admission)
10. Complete absence of antimicrobial treatment despite suspicion of sepsis
D: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age over 18 years old
* receiving antibiotics for no more than 24 hours for an assumed or proven infection
* Informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Failure to obtain written consent to participate
* Patients receiving prolonged antibiotic therapies (\> 3 weeks, e.g. endocarditis, cerebral/hepatic abscess)
* Patients with severe infections due to viruses or parasites (e.g. Dengue, Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium spp.)
* Patients infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis
* Patients entering the ICU for post-operative observation and/or on antibiotic prophylaxis with an estimated length of stay less then 24 hrs.
* Patients suffering from cystic fibrosis
* Severely immunocompromised patients such as patients with HIV and with a CD4 count of less than 200 cells/mm, neutropenic patients (\<500 neutrophils per mL) or patients with solid organ transplantation
* Moribund patients

Answer: B