Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of adults testing positive for GAS and adults testing negative for GAS (values recorded within 1 month prior to laboratory evaluation for GAS).
| Cohort demographics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject characteristics | Adults testing positive for GAS pharyngitis | Adults testing negative for GAS pharyngitis | p |
| N = 224,471 | N = 546,152 | ||
| Age at diagnosis (years), M (±SD) | 25.3 (14.9) | 30.2 (17.5) | <0.0001 |
| % of cohort male sex (n) | 38% (84,504) | 37% (202,118) | <0.0001 |
| Race (n) | |||
| White | 70% (157,764) | 74% (401,841) | <0.0001 |
| Black or African American | 14% (30,777) | 13% (72,819) | <0.0001 |
| Asian | 2% (3415) | 2% (8565) | 0.3579 |
| Ethnicity (n) | |||
| Hispanic or Latino | 10% (22,704) | 8% (41,435) | <0.0001 |
| Comorbidities (n) | |||
| COVID-19 | 0.073% (164) | 0.226% (1236) | <0.0001 |
| Influenza and pneumonia | 0.389% (874) | 0.663% (3623) | <0.0001 |
| HIV | 0.111% (250) | 0.135% (736) | 0.0091 |
| Type 2 diabetes mellitus | 0.846% (1899) | 1.309% (7147) | <0.0001 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 0.016% (37) | 0.028% (153) | 0.0034 |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 0.039% (87) | 0.064% (352) | <0.0001 |
| Transplanted organs or tissues | 0.053% (118) | 0.139% (759) | <0.0001 |
| COPD | 0.114% (255) | 0.308% (1682) | <0.0001 |
| Heart failure | 0.116% (261) | 0.284% (1552) | <0.0001 |
| Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver | 0.032% (72) | 0.084% (457) | <0.0001 |
| Acute kidney failure and CKD | 0.204% (458) | 0.644% (3519) | <0.0001 |
| Neoplasms | 0.736% (1651) | 1.330% (7266) | <0.0001 |
| Laboratory values, M (±SD) | |||
| Hemoglobin A1C | 6.66 (1.89) | 6.78 (2.03) | 0.0191 |
| Leukocytes (/µl) | 10.2 (76.2) | 10.6 (79.4) | 0.7005 |
| Lymphocytes (/µl) | 3.98 (25.4) | 2.1 (11.2) | <0.0001 |
| T4 helper cells (/µl) | 605 (317) | 428 (372) | 0.0003 |
| C-reactive protein (mg/L) | 19.4 (43.6) | 16.7 (32.8) | 0.0664 |
| Ferritin (ng/ml) | 309 (1133) | 780 (7154) | 0.1390 |
| Creatinine (mg/L) | 0.878 (0.695) | 1.1 (1.71) | <0.0001 |
| Albumin (g/dl) | 4.08 (0.559) | 3.81 (0.745) | <0.0001 |
| Lactate dehydrogenase (IU/ml) | 269 (220) | 391 (867) | 0.0344 |
| Aspartate aminotransferase (U/liter) | 30.7 (114) | 48.3 (306) | <0.0001 |
| Alanine aminotransferase (U/L) | 33.0 (69.1) | 41.2 (162) | 0.0005 |
| Alkaline phosphatase (U/L) | 92.5 (65.2) | 102 (91.9) | <0.0001 |
GAS, Group A Streptococcus; CKD, chronic kidney failure; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.