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Table 2 Demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of patients included in this study

From: Accuracy of real-time PCR, Gram stain and culture for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis and Haemophilus influenzae meningitis diagnosis

Demographic and clinical characteristics Analyzed cases (n =451) Cases without RT-PCR (n=1210)  
Male (%) 284 (63.0) 731 (60.8)  
Median age in years (range) 11 (0–78) 11 (0–83)  
Days with symptoms before admission (median, range) 2 (0–60) 2 (0–120)  
Admitted to intensive care unit (%) 56 (13.4) 104 (10.3)  
Altered mental status on admission (%) 133 (33.1) 262 (25.9) p =0.007
Died (%) 42 (10.2) 95 (9.5)  
Transferred from another hospital (%) 270 (60.8) 634 (52.6) p =0.003
CSF cell counts and chemistry  
Leukocyte count (%)    p =0.001
<10 x106 cells/L 2 (0.4) 7 (0.6)  
10-99 x106 cells/L 4 (0.9) 17 (1.5)  
100-999 x106 cells/L 260 (57.8) 743 (64.3)  
1000-9,999 x106 cells/L 107 (23.8) 262 (22.7)  
≥10,000 x106 cells/L 77 (17.1) 127 (11.0)  
>50% PMN (%) 302 (67.1) 725 (62.7)  
>1.00 g/L protein (%) 242 (53.7) 621 (51.5)  
≤1.9 mmol/L glucose (%) 136 (30.2) 303 (25.1) p =0.04
Gram stain results  
Gram stain with any bacteria (%) 116 (25.7) 208 (17.2) p <0.0001
GPDC, GNDC, or GNCB (%) 100 (22.2) 172 (14.2)  
GPDC (%) 49 (10.9) 80 (6.6)  
GNDC (%) 46 (10.2) 80 (6.6)  
GNCB (%) 5 (1.1) 12 (1.0)  
Gram stain with bacteria of other morphology 16 (3.6) 36 (3.0)  
Culture results  
Positive for any bacteria (%) 100 (22.2) 178 (14.7) p =0.0003
S. pneumoniae, N. meningitidis, or H. influenzae (%) 80 (17.7) 143 (11.8)  
S. pneumoniae (%) 40 (8.9) 61 (5.0)  
N. meningitidis (%) 36 (8.0) 67 (5.5)  
H. influenzae (%) 4 (0.9) 15 (1.2)  
Streptococcus agalactiae (%) 2 (0.4) 2 (0.2)  
Other Streptococcus species (%) 1 (0.2) 4 (0.3)  
Staphylococcus species (%) 5 (1.1) 4 (0.3)  
Escherichia coli (%) 2 (0.4) 5 (0.4)  
Listeria monocytogenes (%) 1 (0.2) 0  
Salmonella species (%) 1 (0.2) 0  
Other bacteria 8 (1.8) 20 (1.7)  
RT-PCR result    
Any positive (%) 113 (25.1) -  
S. pneumoniae (%) 51 (11.3) -  
N. meningitidis (%) 57 (12.6) -  
H. influenzae (%) 5 (1.1) -  
  1. Patients included in this study are compared to those who were excluded due to the absence of CSF RT-PCR testing.
  2. Note. Denominators may vary due to incomplete data.
  3. Abbreviations: RT-PCR, real-time polymerase chain reaction; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; PMN, polymorphonuclear leukocyte; GPDC, gram-positive diplococci; GNDC, gram-negative diplococcic; GNCB, gram-negative pleomorphic coccobacilli.
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BMC Infectious Diseases

ISSN: 1471-2334

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