Table 4.
Baseline of viral respiratory tract infections children and adults, antibiotics versus no antibiotics. a. Paediatric cohort. b. Adult cohort. Data are presented as N (%), mean (SD), or median [IQR]. LRTI included pneumonia, acute bronchitis and bronchiolitis; URTI included laryngitis, pharyngitis, otitis media, sinusitis and tonsillitis. AB+ antibiotics prescribed, AB− antibiotics not prescribed, CRP C-reactive protein, ICU intensive care unit, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, LRTI lower respiratory tract infection, URTI upper respiratory tract infection
| a. | AB+ (N = 77) | AB− (N = 132) | p value |
| Age (years) | 1.0 [0.5–2.7] | 1.2 [0.6–2.8] | 0.945 |
| Male sex | 42 (55) | 77 (58) | 0.594 |
| Presence of comorbidity | 24 (31) | 62 (47) | 0.025 |
| Ill-appearing | 30 (39) | 45 (35) | 0.473 |
| Maximum temperature (°C) | 39.2 (0.9) | 39.1 (0.8) | 0.479 |
| Duration of symptoms (days) | 3 (2) | 3 (2) | 0.352 |
| Hospital admission | 60(79) | 84 (65) | 0.030 |
| Hospitalisation duration (days) | 5 [3–9] | 3 [2–4] | < 0.001 |
| CRP (mg/L) at admission | 14 [3–32] | 10 [3–26] | 0.294 |
| Disease severity | |||
| Oxygen saturation, % | 95 [88–97] | 97 [93–99] | 0.051 |
| Needed mechanical ventilation | 9 (12) | 3 (2) | 0.005 |
| Death | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | NA |
| Admission site | 0.032 | ||
| Secondary care centre | 50 (65) | 102 (77) | |
| Tertiary care centre | 16 (21) | 24 (18) | |
| ICU | 11 (14) | 6 (5) | |
| Country | 0.070 | ||
| The Netherlands | 32 (42) | 72 (55) | |
| Israel | 45 (58) | 60 (45) | |
| Clinical syndrome | 0.001 | ||
| COPD/asthma exacerbation | 0 (0) | 4 (3) | |
| LRTI | 48 (62) | 47 (36) | |
| URTI | 29 (38) | 81 (61) | |
| b. | AB+ (n = 74) | AB− (n = 15) | p value |
| Age (years) | 64 [47–75] | 56 [51–60] | 0.086 |
| Male sex | 42 (57) | 4 (27) | 0.033 |
| Presence of comorbidity | 66 (89) | 13 (87) | 0.778 |
| Ill-appearing | 34 (47) | 4 (27) | 0.156 |
| Maximum temperature (°C) | 38.5 (0.9) | 37.8 (0.6) | 0.004 |
| Duration of symptoms (days) | 4 (2) | 3 (2) | 0.478 |
| Hospital admission | 66 (89) | 13 (87) | 0.778 |
| Hospitalisation duration (days) | 4 [3–6] | 4 [2–7] | 0.805 |
| CRP (mg/L) at admission | 15 [5–45] | 7 [3–35] | 0.332 |
| Disease severity | |||
| Oxygen saturation (%) | 95 [91–96] | 95 [91–98] | 0.317 |
| Needed mechanical ventilation | 2 (3) | 0 (0) | 0.520 |
| Death | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 0.651 |
| Admission site | 0.234 | ||
| Secondary care centre | 60 (81) | 11 (73) | |
| Tertiary care centre | 9 (12) | 4 (27) | |
| ICU | 5 (7) | 0 (0) | |
| Country | 0.021 | ||
| The Netherlands | 35 (47) | 12 (80) | |
| Israel | 39 (53) | 3 (20) | |
| Clinical syndrome | 0.003 | ||
| COPD/asthma exacerbation | 14 (19) | 9 (60) | |
| LRTI | 51 (69) | 4 (27) | |
| URTI | 9 (12) | 2 (13) | |