From the author:

From the authors:

We are grateful to D. Aggarwal and co-workers for their comments on our recent article in the European Respiratory Journal 1. As they indicated, the serum procalcitonin (PCT) level could be altered under various conditions and we agree that clinical manifestations, sputum examination and radiological findings are the gold standard to differentiate pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) from community-acquired pneumonia. Our data showed that serum PCT is not chronically elevated in PTB patients and that it is a poor prognostic marker when the level is above normal. Therefore, we also consider that serum PCT should be measured in selected cases in terms of its practical cost-benefit performance.

• ©ERS 2011