Table 1.

Characteristics of patients at baseline in two groups

characteristics	placebo (n = 50)	intervention (n = 46)	P value
Age, y	12.4 ± 4.3	11.7 ± 2.5	0.5
Age (range)	2-14 yr	2 -15 yr	0.2
Female	28 (56)	29 (63)	0.8
Male	22 (44)	17 (37)	0.4
Body weight (Kg)	13 ± 3.8	4.9 ± 14	0.4
Admission diagnosis
Pneumonia	12 (24)	10 (21.7)	0.2
Sepsis	7 (14)	8 (17.3)	0.4
Trauma	11 (22)	14 (30.4)	0.5
Surgery	4 (8)	1 (2.1)	0.7
Other	3 (6)	4 (8.6)	0.4
Hemoglobin, g/L	101 ± 4.6	103 ± 4.1	0.3
Total WBC count, 109/L	7.1 ± 3.24	6.9 ± 2.2	0.6
Platelets, 109/L	223 ± 113	243 ± 119	0.7
SBP (mmHg)	110 ±7.2	111 ±7.1	0.4
DBP (mmHg)	60 ± 5.9	63 ± 6.4	0.5
Respiratory rate (breaths/min)	25 ± 3.1	27± 4.8	1.0
Heat rate (beats/min)	111 ± 1.6	107 ± 1.9	0.3

Data are shown as mean ± SD or number (%).