Study groups
The patients were classified as having mild, moderate, or severe disease
according to the criteria defined by Swanepoel et al. and the modified
criteria recommended by Ergönül et al. 9,10, as well
as clinical indicators of poor prognosis. Accordingly, there were 37
patients in the mild group, 40 patients in the moderate group, and 19
patients in the severe group. Blood, urine, and sputum cultures were
performed for all patients whose procalcitonin level exceeded the upper
laboratory limit.