TABLE 3.
Atopy and environmental triggers
| PICU | Paediatric ward | p-value | |||
| Subjects | 110 | 111 | |||
| Allergic sensitisation# | 103 | 79 (77) | 110 | 71 (65) | 0.052 |
| Multiple sensitisation¶ | 102 | 24 (24) | 110 | 15 (14) | 0.063 |
| Food allergies | 56 | 22 (39) | 53 | 7 (13) | NA |
| Respiratory viral infections | |||||
| PCR positive for ≥1 virus | 102 | 56 (55) | 104 | 65 (63) | 0.268 |
| PCR positive for ≥2 viruses | 102 | 7 (7) | 104 | 14 (13) | 0.191 |
| Symptoms and PCR positive | 98 | 44 (45) | 103 | 53 (52) | 0.352 |
| PCR positive for rhinovirus | 102 | 42 (41) | 104 | 56 (54) | 0.069 |
| Rhinovirus A | 22 | 10 (46) | 33 | 17 (52) | 0.448 |
| Rhinovirus B | 22 | 1 (5) | 33 | 0 | |
| Rhinovirus C | 22 | 11 (50) | 33 | 16 (49) | |
| Parental self-reported smoking | 103 | 28 (27) | 108 | 26 (24) | 0.812 |
| Urinary cotinine | 0.150 | ||||
| Nonsmoker <10 ng·mL−1 | 96 | 74 (77) | 89 | 77 (87) | |
| Passive smoker >10 ng·mL−1 | 96 | 20 (21) | 89 | 12 (13) | |
| Active smoker >200 ng·mL−1 | 96 | 2 (2) | 89 | ||
| Siblings >2 | 84 | 25 (30) | 84 | 26 (31) | 0.867 |
Data are presented as n or n (%), unless otherwise stated. PICU: paediatric intensive care unit; NA: not available. #: positive radioallergosorbent test (RAST) = IgE >0.7 kU·L−1 for at least one of the allergens; ¶: positive RAST for at least one pet, pollen and house dust mite.