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Volume 20, Number 5—May 2014
Dispatch

Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Soldiers, South Korea, April 2011–March 2012

Jung Yeon Heo1, Ji Eun Lee1, Hye Kang Kim, and Kang-Won ChoeComments to Author 
Author affiliations: The Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea (J.Y. Heo, J.E. Lee, K.-W. Choe); Catholic University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea (H.K. Kim)

Main Article

Table 2

Demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings for soldiers hospitalized with acute lower respiratory infections, South Korea, April 2011–March 2012

Variable Soldiers hospitalized for infection with
   p value*
Adenovirus, n = 49 (79.0%) Influenza A or B virus, n = 13 (21.0%)
Demographic characteristics
Age, mean y ± SD 19.63 ± 1.16 20.15 ± 2.03 0.232
Male sex
 49 (100.0)
 12 (92.3)
 0.210
Military rank, no. (%) 0.011
New recruit 32 (65.3) 3 (23.1)
Active-duty soldier
 17 (34.7)†
 10 (76.9)
Clinical characteristics, no. (%)
Fever >5 d 27 (55.1) 3 (23.1) 0.061
Cough 47 (95.9) 11 (84.6) 0.191
Rhinorrhea 29 (59.2) 7 (53.8) 0.729
Sputum 32 (65.3) 7 (53.8) 0.447
Sore throat 30 (61.2) 8 (61.5) 0.984
Dyspnea 9 (18.4) 2 (15.4) 1.000
Nausea/vomiting 8 (16.3) 3 (23.1) 0.685
Diarrhea 13 (26.5) 2 (15.4) 0.493
Chest pain
 5 (10.2)
 1 (7.7)
 1.000
Laboratory findings ± SD
Leukocyte count (cell/μL) 6,529 ± 2,643 8,110 ± 2,331 0.054
Hemoglobin (g/dL) 14.0 ± 0.9 13.5 ± 1.1 0.384
Platelet count (103cell/μL) 156 ± 29 201 ± 26 <0.001
C-reactive protein(mg/dL)
 12.0 ± 3.0
 8.5 ± 2.3
 <0.001
Radiograph findings, no. (%)
Consolidation 20 (40.8) 2 (15.4) 0.112
Peribronchial infiltration 26 (53.1) 8 (61.5) 0.585
Effusion 9 (18.4) 1 (7.7) 0.673
Normal
 3 (6.1)
 3 (23.1)
 0.100
Length of hospital stay, mean d ± SD
 17.1 ± 4.2
 14.3 ± 4.1
 0.036
Required mechanical ventilation, no. (%)
 6 (12.2)
 0
 0.328
Died, no. (%) 3 (6.1) 0 1.000

*p<0.05 was considered significant. The statistical analyses used in this study are described in the online Technical Appendix (wwwnc.cdc.gov/EID/article/20/5/13-1692-Techapp1.pdf).
†Among the 17 hospitalized active-duty soldiers with adenovirus infection, those ranked as privates were the most common (11/17 [64.7%]). All privates who were found to have adenovirus infection had been relocated to advanced training sites after graduating from the 6-week basic military training course, which suggests that adenovirus might have spread to secondary training sites through recruit redeployment.

Main Article

1These authors contributed equally to this article.

Page created: April 17, 2014
Page updated: April 17, 2014
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