Volume 16, Number 8—August 2010
CME ACTIVITY
Correlation of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Viral Load with Disease Severity and Prolonged Viral Shedding in Children
Chung-Chen Li1, Lin Wang1, Hock-Liew Eng1, Huey-Ling You, Ling-Sai Chang, Kuo-Shu Tang, Ying-Jui Lin, Hsuan-Chang Kuo, Ing-Kit Lee, Jien-Wei Liu, Eng-Yen Huang, and Kuender D. Yang
Table 3
Characteristics of 60 patients who were infected with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus, by age group, Taiwan*
| Characteristic | No. (%) patients |
p value† | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age <13 years, n = 31 | Age >13 years, n = 29 | ||
| Sex, M/F |
14/17 |
15/14 |
0.611 |
| Disease severity | |||
| URI/bronchitis | 22 (71.0) | 22 (75.9) | 0.859‡ |
| Pneumonia | 9 (29.0) | 5 (17.2) | |
| Meningoencephalitis |
0 |
2 (6.9) |
|
| Duration of fever after antiviral treatment, h | |||
| <24 | 23 (74.2) | 26 (89.7) | 0.122§ |
| 24–48 | 5 (16.1) | 2 (6.9) | |
| >48 |
3 (9.7) |
1 (3.4) |
|
| Time to initiate antiviral treatment, h | |||
| <48 | 25 (80.6) | 24 (82.8) | 0.833 |
| >48 |
6 (19.4) |
5 (17.2) |
|
| Viral load from the first throat swab, log10 copies/mL | |||
| <4.35 | 16 (51.6) | 14 (48.3) | 0.796 |
| >4.35 |
15 (48.4) |
15 (51.7) |
|
| Coexisting condition | |||
| Any 1 condition | 8 (25.8) | 6 (20.7) | 0.640 |
| Asthma | 7 | 0 | |
| Ventricular septal defect | 1 | 0 | |
| Hypertension | 0 | 5 | |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 0 | 1 | |
| Congestive heart failure | 0 | 1 | |
| Diabetes | 0 | 1 | |
| Pregnancy | 0 | 1 | |
*URI, upper respiratory tract infection.
†p values were calculated by χ2 test.
‡The URI/bronchitis group was compared with the combined group of pneumonia and meningoencephalitis.
§Fever lasting <24 h after antiviral treatment vs. fever lasting 24 h or longer after antiviral treatment.
