Table 3.
Univariate analysis of characteristics of infants aged 2 years or younger with and without enterovirus viraemia
| Viraemia (n=125)* | No viraemia (n=135)† | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||
| Newborn babies | 61 (49%) | 35 (26%) | <0·0001 |
| Infants | 64 (51%) | 100 (74%) | <0·0001 |
| Age (days) | 28 (17–41) | 55 (28–100) | <0·0001 |
| Male sex | 64 (51%) | 70 (52%) | 0·916 |
| Admission characteristics | |||
| Fever without source | 49 (39%) | 93 (69%) | <0·0001 |
| Sepsis-like disease | 12 (10%) | 20 (15%) | <0·0001 |
| Suspected meningitis | 64 (51%) | 22 (16%) | <0·0001 |
| Time between onset of symptoms and lumbar puncture (h) | 12 (7–24) | 17 (7–31) | 0·042 |
| Time between onset of symptoms and venepuncture (h) | 14 (7–26) | 19 (7–31) | 0·188 |
| Exposure to a sick contact | 58 (46%) | 29 (22%) | <0·0001 |
| Clinical symptoms | |||
| Fever | 125 (100%) | 130 (96%) | 0·061 |
| Headache | 1 (1%) | 1 (1%) | >0·99 |
| Photophobia | 1 (1%) | 1 (1%) | >0·99 |
| Neck stiffness | 3 (2%) | 6 (4%) | 0·503 |
| Seizures | 3 (2%) | 13 (10%) | 0·015 |
| Rash | 12 (10%) | 19 (14%) | 0·266 |
| Bulging fontanelle | 12 (10%) | 10 (7%) | 0·526 |
| Tachychardia | 62 (50%) | 46 (34%) | 0·011 |
| Nausea or vomiting | 12 (10%) | 26 (19%) | 0·028 |
| Diarrhoea | 18 (14%) | 26 (19%) | 0·296 |
| Abdominal pain | 6 (5%) | 5 (4%) | 0·661 |
| Rhinitis or pharyngitis | 29 (23%) | 54 (40%) | 0·004 |
| Hypotonia | 31 (25%) | 24 (18%) | 0·166 |
| Irritability | 85 (68%) | 80 (59%) | 0·144 |
| Pallor or increased time for skin recolouring | 27 (22%) | 33 (24%) | 0·587 |
| Neurological symptoms | 1 (1%) | 7 (5%) | 0·068 |
| Poor feeding | 37 (30%) | 53 (39%) | 0·102 |
| Blood characteristics | |||
| Glycaemia (mmol/L) | 5·2 (4·6–5·8) | 5·3 (4·7–5·8) | 0·416 |
| White-blood-cell count (× 109 per L) | 8·8 (6·4–11·5) | 10·6 (8·4–16·8) | <0·0001 |
| Polynuclear neutrophils (× 109 per L) | 3·9 (2·8–6·1) | 4·9 (2·6–7·9) | 0·059 |
| Lymphocytes (× 109 per L) | 3·3 (2·1–4·5) | 4·6 (2·8–6·3) | <0·0001 |
| Monocytes (× 109 per L) | 0·9 (0·6–1·3) | 1·2 (0·8–2·0) | 0·019 |
| Platelets (× 109 per L) | 345 (274–434) | 366 (290–447) | 0·695 |
| C-reactive protein >15 mg/L | 23 (18%) | 51 (38%) | 0·001 |
| CSF characteristics | |||
| Pleocytosis | 44/116 (38%) | 17/125 (14%) | <0·0001 |
| White-blood-cell count (per μL) | 5 (1–162) | 2 (1–5) | 0·0001 |
| Elevated protein | 51/120 (43%) | 26/131 (20%) | <0·0001 |
| Protein (g/L) | 0·6 (0·4–0·8) | 0·4 (0·2–0·5) | 0·003 |
| Glucose (mmol/L) | 3·0 (2·7–3·3) | 3·2 (2·9–3·6) | 0·0001 |
Data are n (%) or median (IQR), unless otherwise indicated. Data obtained from 260 patients with both CSF and blood samples available for enterovirus PCR testing. We excluded 112 patients aged ≤2 years with bacterial or viral infections other than enterovirus infections and 19 other patients for whom the time between CSF collection and blood collection was ≥24 h. CSF=cerebrospinal fluid.
*
Blood PCR-positive samples and CSF PCR-positive or CSF PCR-negative samples.
†
Blood PCR-negative samples and CSF PCR-negative samples.