In a recent study of 621 adult patients with acute cough or fever, 20.5% of whom had radiographically confirmed pneumonia, Steurer and co-workers concluded that pneumonia could safely be excluded in patients with CRP values below 10 mg/L and in patients without dyspnoea or daily fever with values between 11 and 50 mg/L [21]. The gene discussed is CRP; the disease is pneumonia.