Pediatric pneumonia severity score (PedCAPS)
Official title: Derivation and Validation of the Pediatric Community-Acquired Pneumonia Severity (PedCAPS) Score
Funded at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago · NIH-11292391 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will create and check a simple score to predict how serious pneumonia will be in children who come to the emergency room.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chicago, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 2023 |
| Project end | January 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $979,709 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL163692-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11292391 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children roughly 3 months to 18 years old who present to a participating emergency department with suspected community-acquired pneumonia are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Newborns under about 3 months, adults, cases of hospital-acquired pneumonia, or children with very complex chronic conditions may not be represented and might not benefit from this specific score.
What this research studies
If your child comes to the emergency department with suspected community-acquired pneumonia, researchers will use clinical information from many hospitals to build a short, practical score to predict which children are likely to become very sick. They will combine routine exam findings with blood biomarkers (like C-reactive protein and procalcitonin) and viral test results to see if these add useful information. The team will develop the score using data from multiple pediatric EDs and then test it in separate hospitals to make sure it works broadly. The work builds on an earlier single-center rule but aims for wider validation so doctors can use the score with more confidence.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the score could help doctors decide who needs hospital care, extra tests, or stronger treatments and who can safely go home.
How similar studies have gone: Adult pneumonia risk scores have improved care, and a prior single-center pediatric rule showed promise, but multicenter validation and the use of added biomarkers is a newer step.
Where this research is happening
-
Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Chicago, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Florin, Todd Adam — Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
- Study coordinator: Florin, Todd Adam
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.