Table 1.
Demographics, clinical characteristics, and inpatient outcome of study participants
| SA (N = 284) | Acute illness, no SA (N = 63) | Asymptomatic community children (N = 53) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 2.3 (1.2) | 2.1 (1.2) | 2.3 (1.0) |
| Gender, male, n (%) | 179 (63.0) | 29 (46.0) | 32 (60.4) |
| Stunted, n (%)* | 74/276 (26.8) | 12 (19.1) | 19 (35.9) |
| Limited maternal education† | 217 (78.1) | 29 (46.0) | 35 (71.4) |
| Axillary temperature (°C), mean (SD) | 37.4 (0.8) | 36.9 (0.9) | 36.5 (0.4) |
| Referred, n (%) | 172 (60.6) | 5 (7.9) | – |
| Immunized up to date, n (%) | 274 (96.5) | 61 (96.8) | – |
| Presenting features, n (%) | |||
| Fever | 280 (98.6) | 44 (69.8) | – |
| Cough | 200 (70.4) | 46 (73.0) | |
| Duration of illness (days), mean (SD) | 3.9 (1.8) | 3.1 (2.4) | – |
| Previous history of, n (%) | |||
| Hospitalization | 153 (53.9) | 20 (31.8) | – |
| Transfusion | 104 (67.9) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Transfused > 1 | 57 (54.8) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Clinical presentation, n (%) | |||
| Febrile (T > 37.4°C) | 132 (46.5) | 16 (25.4) | – |
| Jaundice | 62 (21.8) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Hepatomegaly | 71 (25.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Splenomegaly | 159 (55.9) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Duration of hospitalization, mean (SD) | 4.4 (2.1) | 1.5 (1.9) | – |
| Hemoglobin level (g/dL), mean (SD) | 3.6 (0.9) | 11.1 (1.1) | 11.3 (1.6) |
| Total WBC, mean (SD)‡ | 19.3 (13.2) | 9.3 (3.3) | 10.2 (3.2) |
| Reticulocytosis (> 2.5%), n (%) | 50 (17.6) | 12 (19.1) | 7/52 (13.5) |
| Died, n (%) | 2 (0.7) | 0 (0.0) | – |
SA = severe anemia.
*
Stunted = height-for-age z-score < −2 SD.
†
Data available for SA (n = 278) and non-SA (n = 49).
‡
WBC = white blood count, data available for SA, n = 280; non-SA, n = 50; CC, n = 51.