Table 2.
Clinical characteristics of patients.
| Definite bacterial (n = 643) | Probable bacterial (n = 677) | Bacterial syndrome (n = 456) | Unknown bacterial or viral (n = 791) | Viral syndrome (n = 299) | Probable viral (n = 635) | Definite viral (n = 491) | Other phenotype (n = 619) | Control (n = 1061) | Overall (n = 5672) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender M (%) | 348 (54.1%) | 375 (55.4%) | 253 (55.5%) | 453 (57.3%) | 175 (58.5%) | 352 (55.4%) | 262 (53.4%) | 340 (54.9%) | 601 (56.6%) | 3159 (55.7%) |
| Age (months) | ||||||||||
| Median [IQR] | 58.9 [15.0–131] | 59.9 [26.5–128] | 63.3 [26.2–128] | 55.2 [19.8–111] | 38.3 [16.1–86.5] | 43.3 [14.8–96.3] | 39.7 [9.32–86.4] | 104 [38.9–161] | 122 [63.2–167] | 64.5 [22.7–134] |
| Ethnicity | ||||||||||
| Afro Caribbean | 1 (0.2%) | 1 (0.1%) | 3 (0.7%) | 6 (0.8%) | 1 (0.3%) | 4 (0.6%) | 2 (0.4%) | 8 (1.3%) | 3 (0.3%) | 29 (0.5%) |
| Asian | 38 (5.9%) | 31 (4.6%) | 16 (3.5%) | 65 (8.2%) | 22 (7.4%) | 33 (5.2%) | 46 (9.4%) | 37 (6.0%) | 34 (3.2%) | 322 (5.7%) |
| Black African | 13 (2.0%) | 17 (2.5%) | 5 (1.1%) | 38 (4.8%) | 11 (3.7%) | 12 (1.9%) | 17 (3.5%) | 30 (4.8%) | 15 (1.4%) | 158 (2.8%) |
| Middle-Eastern | 15 (2.3%) | 11 (1.6%) | 14 (3.1%) | 21 (2.7%) | 9 (3.0%) | 12 (1.9%) | 20 (4.1%) | 16 (2.6%) | 16 (1.5%) | 134 (2.4%) |
| White European | 536 (83.4%) | 559 (82.6%) | 393 (88.2%) | 598 (75.6%) | 230 (76.9%) | 527 (83.0%) | 366 (74.5%) | 467 (75.4%) | 911 (85.9%) | 4587 (80.9%) |
| Mixed | 10 (1.6%) | 14 (2.1%) | 7 (1.5%) | 19 (2.4%) | 10 (3.3%) | 13 (2.0%) | 16 (3.3%) | 9 (1.5%) | 17 (1.6%) | 115 (2.0%) |
| Other | 30 (4.7%) | 44 (6.5%) | 18 (3.9%) | 44 (5.6%) | 16 (5.4%) | 34 (5.4%) | 24 (4.9%) | 52 (8.4%) | 65 (6.1%) | 327 (5.8%) |
| Country | ||||||||||
| Austria | 44 (6.8%) | 77 (11.4%) | 33 (7.2%) | 64 (8.1%) | 14 (4.7%) | 19 (3.0%) | 42 (8.6%) | 34 (5.5%) | 165 (15.6%) | 492 (8.7%) |
| Germany | 7 (1.1%) | 21 (3.1%) | 4 (0.9%) | 17 (2.1%) | 11 (3.7%) | 15 (2.4%) | 5 (1.0%) | 21 (3.4%) | 13 (1.2%) | 114 (2.0%) |
| Greece | 72 (11.2%) | 37 (5.5%) | 9 (2.0%) | 88 (11.1%) | 23 (7.7%) | 130 (20.5%) | 59 (12.0%) | 47 (7.6%) | 35 (3.3%) | 500 (8.8%) |
| Latvia | 71 (11.0%) | 106 (15.7%) | 52 (11.4%) | 37 (4.7%) | 13 (4.3%) | 100 (15.7%) | 43 (8.8%) | 31 (5.0%) | 131 (12.3%) | 584 (10.3%) |
| Netherlands | 96 (14.9%) | 78 (11.5%) | 57 (12.5%) | 54 (6.8%) | 49 (16.4%) | 116 (18.3%) | 50 (10.2%) | 102 (16.5%) | 114 (10.7%) | 716 (12.6%) |
| Slovenia | 52 (8.1%) | 62 (9.2%) | 27 (5.9%) | 16 (2.0%) | 25 (8.4%) | 36 (5.7%) | 17 (3.5%) | 19 (3.1%) | 23 (2.2%) | 277 (4.9%) |
| Spain | 79 (12.3%) | 67 (9.9%) | 57 (12.5%) | 121 (15.3%) | 30 (10.0%) | 54 (8.5%) | 68 (13.8%) | 47 (7.6%) | 218 (20.5%) | 741 (13.1%) |
| Switzerland | 16 (2.5%) | 13 (1.9%) | 18 (3.9%) | 16 (2.0%) | 12 (4.0%) | 19 (3.0%) | 2 (0.4%) | 15 (2.4%) | 10 (0.9%) | 121 (2.1%) |
| Taiwan | 20 (3.1%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 7 (0.9%) | 1 (0.3%) | 2 (0.3%) | 3 (0.6%) | 3 (0.5%) | 0 (0%) | 36 (0.6%) |
| U.K. | 186 (28.9%) | 216 (31.9%) | 199 (43.6%) | 371 (46.9%) | 121 (40.5%) | 144 (22.7%) | 202 (41.1%) | 300 (48.5%) | 352 (33.2%) | 2091 (36.9%) |
| Max CRP (mg/L) | ||||||||||
| Median [IQR] | 102 [36.4–202] | 146 [100–220] | 20.5 [7.00–37.0] | 35.9 [13.1–79.4] | 67.0 [23.3–101] | 10.0 [4.00–24.0] | 10.3 [4.00–26.0] | 19.5 [4.00–78.0] | NA | 35.0 [9.00–102] |
| Max neutrophils (10ˆ9/L) | ||||||||||
| Median [IQR] | 10.2 [5.87–15.4] | 12.8 [8.55–18.9] | 7.09 [4.52–11.4] | 6.68 [3.50–11.3] | 12.5 [7.50–15.3] | 4.92 [2.89–7.80] | 4.46 [2.53–7.20] | 6.61 [3.81–11.2] | NA | 7.55 [4.10–12.4] |
| Required admission | 514 (79.9%) | 558 (82.4%) | 351 (77.0%) | 534 (67.5%) | 214 (71.6%) | 266 (41.9%) | 350 (71.3%) | 427 (69.0%) | 232 (21.9%) | 3446 (60.8%) |
| PICU admission | 129 (20.1%) | 118 (17.4%) | 25 (5.5%) | 116 (14.7%) | 58 (19.4%) | 24 (3.8%) | 47 (9.6%) | 109 (17.6%) | 35 (3.3%) | 661 (11.7%) |
| Ventilated | 62 (9.6%) | 78 (11.5%) | 12 (2.6%) | 93 (11.8%) | 47 (15.7%) | 15 (2.4%) | 39 (7.9%) | 64 (10.3%) | 0 (0%) | 410 (7.2%) |
| Primary or secondary immunodeficiency | 69 (10.7%) | 62 (9.2%) | 27 (5.9%) | 160 (20.2%) | 20 (6.7%) | 40 (6.3%) | 51 (10.4%) | 93 (15.0%) | 57 (5.4%) | 579 (10.2%) |
| Upper respiratory tract infection | 46 (7.2%) | 169 (25.0%) | 83 (18.2%) | 213 (26.9%) | 88 (29.4%) | 289 (45.5%) | 105 (21.4%) | 39 (6.3%) | 0 (0%) | 1032 (18.2%) |
| Lower respiratory tract infection | 97 (15.1%) | 242 (35.7%) | 83 (18.2%) | 170 (21.5%) | 93 (31.1%) | 88 (13.9%) | 103 (21.0%) | 27 (4.4%) | 0 (0%) | 903 (15.9%) |
| Meningitis or encephalitis | 42 (6.5%) | 5 (0.7%) | 3 (0.7%) | 21 (2.7%) | 17 (5.7%) | 15 (2.4%) | 59 (12.0%) | 10 (1.6%) | 0 (0%) | 172 (3.0%) |
| Sepsis | 157 (24.4%) | 17 (2.5%) | 3 (0.7%) | 9 (1.1%) | 2 (0.7%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (0.2%) | 0 (0%) | 189 (3.3%) |
| Musculoskeletal infection | 33 (5.1%) | 11 (1.6%) | 21 (4.6%) | 7 (0.9%) | 0 (0%) | 11 (1.7%) | 13 (2.6%) | 29 (4.7%) | 0 (0%) | 125 (2.2%) |
| Soft tissue infection | 55 (8.6%) | 92 (13.6%) | 174 (38.2%) | 27 (3.4%) | 3 (1.0%) | 13 (2.0%) | 7 (1.4%) | 12 (1.9%) | 0 (0%) | 383 (6.8%) |
| Gastrointestinal infection | 84 (13.1%) | 62 (9.2%) | 47 (10.3%) | 62 (7.8%) | 28 (9.4%) | 69 (10.9%) | 44 (9.0%) | 29 (4.7%) | 0 (0%) | 425 (7.5%) |
| Urinary tract infection | 204 (31.7%) | 55 (8.1%) | 12 (2.6%) | 11 (1.4%) | 2 (0.7%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (0.5%) | 0 (0%) | 287 (5.1%) |
| Other diagnosis | 81 (12.6%) | 34 (5.0%) | 39 (8.6%) | 40 (5.1%) | 50 (16.7%) | 82 (12.9%) | 160 (32.6%) | 72 (11.6%) | 0 (0%) | 558 (9.8%) |
| Received antibiotics | 613 (95.3%) | 671 (99.1%) | 438 (96.1%) | 631 (79.8%) | 196 (65.6%) | 306 (48.2%) | 348 (70.9%) | 357 (57.7%) | 0 (0%) | 3560 (62.8%) |
Ethnicity recorded was the self-reported ethnicity. Maximum CRP and neutrophil count refer to the highest value for each patient during that illness episode. The control group included hospitalized patients with no fever and with conditions considered to be not due to infection or inflammatory disorders. Controls included 35 patients with critical illness and 57 patients with primary or secondary immunodeficiency.
PICU: pediatric intensive care unit; numbers show the median and interquartile range (IQR); CRP: C-reactive protein.