Table 3. Clinical manifestation on admittance and disease course in patients with meningococcal disease due to wild type or lipid A variant strains.
| Wild type | Lipid A variant | p-valuea | |
| Patient characteristics | N = 419 | N = 29 | |
| Age at presentation, years (IQR) | 5.9 (1.8–18.9) | 19.3 (4.6–50.5) | 0.007 |
| Male, n (%) | 218/419 (52%) | 12/29 (41%) | 0.27 |
| Underlying comorbidity, n (%) | 71/406 (17%) | 11/28 (39%) | 0.004 |
| Clinical manifestation at admission | |||
| Disease syndrome: Meningitis, n (%) | 364/406 (90%) | 17/28 (61%) | 0.0001 |
| Symptoms before admittance <1 day, n (%) | 88/378 (23%) | 1/23 (4%) | 0.04 |
| Symptoms before admittance ≥1 week, n (%) | 24/369 (7%) | 3/24 (14%) | 0.22 |
| Fever, temperature >38°C, n (%) | 253/330 (77%) | 14/25 (56%) | 0.02 |
| Petechiae, n (%) | 271/397 (68%) | 14/28 (50%) | 0.047 |
| Clinical Course during admission | |||
| DIS/MOF, n (%) | 43/388 (11%) | 1/28 (4%) | 0.34 |
| Active ventilation, n (%) | 86/386 (22%) | 1/28 (4%) | 0.02 |
| Days in hospital, median (IQR) | 9 (8–12) | 9 (7–16) | 0.80 |
| ICU admittance, n (%) | 150/393 (38%) | 5/29 (17%) | 0.03 |
| Mortality, n (%) | 33/390 (8%) | 3/29 (10%) | 0.73 |
DIS/MOF, Multiple organ failure or disseminated intravascular coagulation; IQR, Interquartile range.
a
Proportions were tested with Chi-square test or Fisher's exact tests, as appropriate, all p values are 2 sided. Continuous outcomes were tested with nonparametric tests; Significant correlations (p<0.05) are depicted in bold.