Table 1.

Clinical characteristics of children >60 days with cerebrospinal fluid tested for suspected central nervous system infection in the Children’s Hospital Colorado microbiology laboratory.

Characteristic	Pre-MEP era (n = 4888)	MEP Era (n = 408)	P
Age (median years: IQR)	5 (1. 13)	6(1. 13)	0.134
2–6 months	997 (20%)	75 (18%)	0.354
6 months-1 year	430 (9%)	28 (7%)
1-4 years	938 (19%)	81 (20%)
>=4 years	2523 (52%)	224 (55%)
Male	2479 (51%)	199 (49%)	0.35
White Race	3159 (67%)	264 (66%)	0.933
CSF Pleocytosis (> 5 WBCs)	1048 (24%)	106 (28%)	0.097
Positive CSF Bacterial Culture*	70 (1%)	6 (2%)	1
Positive CSF Enterovirus Test*	153 (10%)	11 (5%)	0.033
CSF Tested for HSV (MEP or HSV PCR)	1225 (25%)	219 (54%)	<0.0001
Tested by HSV PCR	1225 (25%)	18 (4%)	<0.0001
Tested by MEP	0 (0%)	211 (52%)	<0.0001
Positive CSF HSV Test*	8 (0.6%)	0 (0%)	0.23
Tested for HSV with CSF WBC <5/μL	720 (63%)	121 (59%)	0.27
Received acyclovir**	648 (13%)	48 (12%)	0.43
Median doses of acyclovir (IQR)**	5 (3.8)	3(1.9)	0.05

^*Denominator includes only those tested.

^**Excludes the 8 children with positive CSF HSV tests in the pre-MEP era.