Table 1:
Characteristics of persons with cryptococcal meningitis on flucytosine-based combination treatment versus other induction regimens at 19 facilities with flucytosine access, South Africa, July 2018-March 2020
| Characteristics | n/N (%) | 5FC-containing regimens, n=596 n (%) |
Other regimens, n=943 n (%) |
p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in years; median (IQR) | 1,537 | 37 (32-43) | 36 (31-43) | 0.08a |
| Age category, years | 1,537 | |||
| ≥18-29 | 280 (18) | 97 (16) | 183 (19) | 0.11 |
| 30-39 | 679 (44) | 269 (45) | 410 (44) | |
| 40-49 | 394 (26) | 167 (28) | 227 (24) | |
| >49 | 184 (12) | 63 (11) | 121 (13) | |
| Sex | 1539 | |||
| Male | 906 (59) | 341 (57) | 565 (60) | 0.29 |
| Female | 633 (41) | 255 (43) | 378 (60) | |
| Province of sentinel site hospital | 1,539 | |||
| Gauteng | 525 (34) | 255 (43) | 270 (29) | <0.001 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 316 (21) | 25 (4) | 291 (31) | |
| Eastern Cape | 308 (20) | 168 (28) | 140 (15) | |
| Limpopo | 43 (3) | 3 (1) | 40 (4) | |
| North West | 131 (9) | 56 (9) | 75 (8) | |
| Western Cape | 66 (4) | 23 (4) | 43 (5) | |
| Mpumalanga | 86 (6) | 48 (8) | 38 (4) | |
| Free State | 52 (3) | 16 (2) | 36 (4) | |
| Northern Cape | 12 (1) | 2 (1) | 10 (1) | |
| CD4 count (cells/mm3) | 1,435 | |||
| <100 | 1,154 (80) | 438 (81) | 633 (80) | 0.76 |
| ≥100 | 281 (20) | 106 (19) | 160 (20) | |
| Viral load (log10 RNA copies/mL) | 1,151 | |||
| <400-10000 | 378 (33) | 155 (34) | 176 (31) | 0.29 |
| >10000 | 773 (67) | 296 (66) | 388 (69) | |
| Antiretroviral therapy | 1,517 | |||
| Naive | 576 (38) | 266 (66) | 441 (73) | 0.01 |
| Experienced | 941 (62) | 139 (34) | 163 (27) | |
| Glasgow Coma Scale score <15 | 1377 | |||
| No | 994 (72) | 377 (73) | 617 (72) | 0.64 |
| Yes | 383 (28) | 140 (27) | 243 (28) | |
| CSF opening pressure of >20 cm H20 | 384 | |||
| No | 101 (26) | 60 (26) | 41 (26) | 0.96 |
| Yes | 283 (74) | 169 (74) | 114 (74) | |
| Concurrent TB treatment | 1,513 | |||
| No | 1,098 (73) | 412 (70) | 686 (74) | 0.12 |
| Yes | 415 (27) | 174 (30) | 241 (26) | |
| Headache at diagnosis | 1,482 | |||
| No | 179 (12) | 52 (9) | 127 (14) | 0.004 |
| Yes | 1,303 (88) | 525 (91) | 778 (86) |
Data are n (%) or n (%)/N. 5-FC=flucytosine. CSF=cerebrospinal fluid. IQR=interquartile range. TB=tuberculosis. aKruskal-Wallis test