Table 4.
Categorization of Patients Negative by Culture
| Category, source of illness | No. of cases |
|---|---|
| Group 1: clinical infections | |
| Pneumonia | 38 |
| Skin or soft tissue | 8 |
| Intra-abdominal | 3 |
| Genitourinary | 1 |
| Oropharyngeal | 1 |
| Subtotal | 51 |
| Group 2: atypical infections | |
| Clostridium difficile | 5 |
| Disseminated Cryptococcus | 2 |
| Tuberculosis | 1 |
| Viral encephalitis | 1 |
| Subtotal | 9 |
| Group 3: noninfectious mimics | |
| Inflammatory colitis | 7 |
| Hypovolemia | 5 |
| Medication effect | 5 |
| Adrenal insufficiency | 4 |
| Acute myocardial infarction | 3 |
| Pulmonary embolus | 3 |
| Pancreatitis | 2 |
| Diabetic ketoacidosis | 2 |
| Small bowel obstruction | 2 |
| Anemia | 1 |
| Heart failure | 1 |
| Anaphylaxis | 1 |
| Systemic lupus | 1 |
| Subtotal | 37 |
| Group 4: indeterminate cases | |
| Unclear | 10 |
| Multifactorial | 9 |
| Subtotal | 19 |
| Total | 116 |