Duration of viral shedding in hospitalized patients infected with pandemic H1N1

BMC Infectious Diseases

Table 2 Positivity of nasopharyngeal swabs for influenza virus RNA 6 days after symptom onset according to patient characteristics

Variable	N. of patients positive for viral RNA 6 days after symptom onset/total (%)	p value^a
Sex
Male	15/21 (71.4)
Female	13/16 (81.3)
Immunosuppression ^b
Present	6/6 (100)
Absent	22/31 (71)
Underlying lung disease ^c
Present	7/8 (87.5)
Absent	21/29 (72.4)
Any complication ^d		0.005
Present	17/17 (100)
Absent	11/22 (50)
Any complication excluding pneumonia
Present	6/6 (100)
Absent	11/20 (55)
Pneumonia		0.02
Present	11/11 (100)
Absent	17/26 (65.4)
Antiviral treatment
Yes	21/28 (75)
No	7/9 (77.8)
Time from symptom onset to initiation of treatment
≤ 2 days	10/15 (66.7)
> 2 days	11/13 (84.6)
Antiviral treatment regimen ^e
standard	4/5 (80)
intensified	17/23 (73.9)
Antiviral treatment duration		0.02
≤ 5 days	3/8 (37.5)
> 5 days	18/20 (90)
Antibiotic/antimycotic treatment
yes	18/20 (90)
no	10/17 (58.8)
Steroid treatment
yes	4/4 (100)
no	24/33 (72.7)

^a by chi-square test; p values ≥0.05 have been omitted.
^b HIV or hairy cells leukaemia.
^c COPD or Asthma.
^d Pneumonia, exacerbation of COPD or asthma, petechial rash, elevated ALT.
^e Standard treatment: oseltamivir 75 mg twice/day; intensified treatment: increased dosage of oseltamivir or oseltamivir+zanamivir.

ISSN: 1471-2334