Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • RESOURCES
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • BJGP Life
    • eLetters
    • Librarian information
    • Alerts
    • Resilience
    • Video
    • Audio
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
    • RCGP e-Portfolio

User menu

  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
British Journal of General Practice
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
    • RCGP e-Portfolio
  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Follow bjgp on Twitter
  • Visit bjgp on Facebook
  • Blog
  • Listen to BJGP podcast
Advertisement
British Journal of General Practice

Advanced Search

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • RESOURCES
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • BJGP Life
    • eLetters
    • Librarian information
    • Alerts
    • Resilience
    • Video
    • Audio
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
Letters

Author's response

Hasse Melbye
British Journal of General Practice 2005; 55 (510): 55.
Hasse Melbye
University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway. E-mail:
Roles: Professor of General Practice
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: hasse.melbye@ism.uit.no
  • Article
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

We wanted to demonstrate the natural course of the C-reactive protein (CRP) response during viral respiratory infections, and none of the patients described in our study were treated with antibiotics.

Our material is, as van der Wouden et al comment on, not sufficiently representative of the upper respiratory tract infections we meet in general practice. The most severe viral infections may have been excluded, and we know from previous studies that CRP values above 100 mg/l may be found in influenza and adenovirus infections.1 I agree with van der Wouden et al that more systematic research is needed in this field. However, some useful information may be obtained from our study.

The CRP response in viral respiratory infections has some typical features. The maximum CRP value is reached when the illness has lasted 2–4 days, and falls rapidly over the following days. Values below 10 mg/l is the rule after 7–10 days in uncomplicated cases. These features have also been indicated by other studies.2,3 This knowledge can be taken into consideration when results of the CRP test are interpreted in patients with acute cough or a flu-like illness.

  • © British Journal of General Practice, 2005.

REFERENCES

  1. ↵
    1. Ruuskanen O,
    2. Putto A,
    3. Sarkkinen H,
    4. et al.
    (1985) C-reactive protein in respiratory virus infections. J Pediatr 107(1):97–100.
  2. ↵
    1. Whicher JT,
    2. Chambers RE,
    3. Higginson J,
    4. et al.
    (1985) Acute phase response of serum amyloid A protein and C reactive protein to the common cold and influenza. J Clin Pathol 38(3):312–316.
  3. ↵
    1. Melbye H,
    2. Straume B,
    3. Brox J
    (1992) Laboratory tests for pneumonia in general practice: the diagnostic values depend on the duration of illness. Scand J Prim Health Care 10(3):234–240.
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

In this issue

British Journal of General Practice: 55 (510)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 55, Issue 510
January 2005
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Or,
sign in or create an account with your email address
Email Article

Thank you for recommending British Journal of General Practice.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person to whom you are recommending the page knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Author's response
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from British Journal of General Practice
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from British Journal of General Practice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Author's response
Hasse Melbye
British Journal of General Practice 2005; 55 (510): 55.

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
Author's response
Hasse Melbye
British Journal of General Practice 2005; 55 (510): 55.
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Jump to section

  • Top
  • Article
    • REFERENCES
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF

More in this TOC Section

  • It wasn’t always rosy …
  • Safety netting and follow-up (of babies’ eyes)
  • Social prescribing in ethnic minority communities
Show more Letters

Related Articles

Cited By...

Advertisement

BJGP Life

BJGP Open

 

@BJGPjournal's Likes on Twitter

 
 

British Journal of General Practice

NAVIGATE

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • All Issues
  • Online First
  • Authors & reviewers

RCGP

  • BJGP for RCGP members
  • BJGP Open
  • RCGP eLearning
  • InnovAiT Journal
  • Jobs and careers
  • RCGP e-Portfolio

MY ACCOUNT

  • RCGP members' login
  • Subscriber login
  • Activate subscription
  • Terms and conditions

NEWS AND UPDATES

  • About BJGP
  • Alerts
  • RSS feeds
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

AUTHORS & REVIEWERS

  • Submit an article
  • Writing for BJGP: research
  • Writing for BJGP: other sections
  • BJGP editorial process & policies
  • BJGP ethical guidelines
  • Peer review for BJGP

CUSTOMER SERVICES

  • Advertising
  • Contact subscription agent
  • Copyright
  • Librarian information

CONTRIBUTE

  • BJGP Life
  • eLetters
  • Feedback

CONTACT US

BJGP Journal Office
RCGP
30 Euston Square
London NW1 2FB
Tel: +44 (0)20 3188 7679
Email: journal@rcgp.org.uk

British Journal of General Practice is an editorially-independent publication of the Royal College of General Practitioners
© 2021 British Journal of General Practice

Print ISSN: 0960-1643
Online ISSN: 1478-5242