Table 1. Characteristics of infants with beriberi and febrile and afebrile controls.
| Variable | Clinical beriberi | Febrile controls | Afebrile controls | Pe |
| Infants | 4717 | 4717 | 4712 | |
| Age/monthsa | 2.0 (0.8–8)2.0 (0.8–3) | 1.9 (0.8–11)1.2 (0.8–4) | 2.0 (0.3–9)461.2 (1–3.4) | 0.70.2 |
| Male % | 29/47 (62)10/17 (59) | 26/47 (56)10/17 (59) | 26/47 (56)7/12 (58) | 0.51.0 |
| Sibling died <1 year oldc | 11/42 (26.2)11/15 (73.3) | 0/42 (0)0/17 (0) | 3/36 (8.3)4/7 (57.1) | 0.0050.2 |
| Breast fed % | 46/46 (100)17/17 (100) | 40/44 (90.9)16/17 (94.1) | 42/45 (93.3)9/11 (81.8) | ---g---g |
| Bottle fed % | 1/46 (2.2)0/17 (0) | 13/44 (29.6)4/17 (23.5) | 11/45 (24.4)4/11 (36.4) | 0.010.01 |
| Given rice water % | 4/46 (8.7)2/17 (11.8) | 7/44 (15.9)1/17 (5.9) | 9/45 (20.0)3/11 (27.3) | 0.20.6 |
| Given chewed sticky rice % | 12/46 (26.1)3/17 (17.7) | 8/44 (18.2)1/17 (5.9) | 5/45 (11.1)0/11 (0) | 0.070.1 |
| Peripheral White cell count 109/La | 11.0 (6.0–33.0)3510.0 (6.1–13.0)6 | 11.4 (4.5–28.9)289.0 (5.8–12.2)2 | 11.0 (6.8–30.5)319.8 (7.3–11.0)3 | 1.0--- |
| Hct %a | 34 (16–50)3433 (24–42)6 | 35 (22–55)2835.0 (30–40)2 | 34 (17–50)3140 (34–50)3 | 1.0--- |
| Basal erythrocyte transketolase activity micromoles/min/gHBb, | 0.53 (0.47–0.60)17 | 0.78 (0.65–0.91)17 | 0.75 (0.61–0.89)12 | 0.02 |
| Basal erythrocyte transketolase activity <0.59 micromoles/min/gHB | 13/17 (76.5) | 4/17 (23.5) | 3/12 (25) | 0.001 |
| Activated erythrocyte transketolase activity micromoles/min/gHBb | 0.62 (0.53–0.70)17 | 0.88 (0.73–1.04)17 | 0.85 (0.72–0.98)12 | 0.02 |
| Alpha %a | 18.2 (−9 to 625)4210.1 (−5.4–72.4)17 | 13.0 (−2.5–558.3)4010.3 (−2.5–73.7)17 | 11.8 (−35.7–779.9)3812.8 (4.2–33.9)12 | 0.50.9 |
| Alpha ≥25% | 16/42 (38.1)3/17 (17.7) | 13/40 (32.5)3/17 (17.7) | 9/38 (23.7)3/12 (25) | 0.30.6 |
| Alpha >31% | 13/42 (30.9)2/17 (11.8) | 10/40 (25)1/17 (5.9) | 5/38 (13.2)1/12 (8.3) | 0.20.5 |
| BNP pg/mla | 334 (0–2,465)38158 (2–1,978)17 | 7 (0–590)298 (0–361)13 | 6 (0–169)306 (0–169)12 | 0.080.0005 |
| % with BNP>upper limit reference range for age/sexd | 9/38 (23.7)2/17 (11.8) | 0/290/13 | 0/300/12 | ---h---h |
| NT-pro-BNP pg/mla | 35,000 (128–>35,000)1532,080 (128–35,000)13 | 1,514 (335–6,831)101,514 (335–6,831)10 | 866 (96–35,000)11866 (96–35,000)11 | 0.030.0009 |
| % with NT-pro-BNP >650 pg/ml | 14/15 (93)12/13 (92.3) | 6/12 (50)8/10 (80) | 9/11 (82)6/11 (54.6) | 0.20.09 |
| % with NT-pro-BNP >upper limit reference range for age/sexd | 11/15 (73.3)9/13 (69.3) | 0/100/10 | 1/11 (9.1)1/11 (9.1) | <0.001<0.001 |
| Troponin T ng/mla | 0.07 (0–0.893)350.11 (0–0.351)14 | 0 (0–0.159)270 (0–0.052)11 | 0 (0–0.122)300 (0–0.058)12 | 0.0050.003 |
| % with detectable troponin T | 27/35 (77.1)11/14 (78.6) | 9/27 (33.3)4/11 (36.4) | 14/30 (46.7)8/12 (66.7) | 0.0190.1 |
Superscript numbers refer to sample size if data missing.
median (range),
mean (95%CI),
of those with siblings,
for reference ranges see table base,
matched comparison of both control groups combined, with cases, except
matched comparison of the groups separately, the first P value refers to cases versus febrile controls and the second P value to cases versus afebrile controls,
p-value could not be obtained in the matched analysis as the mothers of cases were all breast fed,
p-value could not be obtained in the matched analysis as the results for all controls were zero.
d
97.5th percentiles for males and females over the age range 0–1 years for
BNP (pg/ml)
0–<31 days M and F 1,585
31–<90 days M and F 1,259
3–<6 months M and F 759
6 months–<1 y M and F 263
97.5th percentiles for males and females over the age range 0–1 y for NT-pro-BNP
(pg/ml) [41]
0–<31 days M 28,184
0–<31 days F 35,481
31–<90 days M 19,953
31–<90 days F 15,135
3–<6 months M 15,849
3–<6 months F 14,125
6 months–<1 y M 11,220
6 months–<1 y F 10,000
The first line in each row refers to all those with data and the second line to only infants with basal ETK data.