CRP and tuberculosis: When characterising the degree of inflammation before starting anti-TB treatment, the median baseline serum CRP level (CRPb) in the study population was 21.9 mg/L (interquartile range [IQR]: 3.3–51.5 mg/L); significant differences were observed between patients with and without cavitary lesions (median 36.3 mg/L [IQR: 19.8–66.6 mg/L] vs. 3.0 mg/L [IQR: 1.1–7.6 mg/L], U = 379, p < 0.001) and between patients with positive and negative sputum-smear microscopy results (median 29.2 mg/L [IQR: 8.2–60.6 mg/L] vs. 3.4 mg/L [IQR: 1.1–26.6 mg/L], U = 299, p = 0.011) (Table 2).