Volume 32, Number 2—February 2026
Research
Predictors of Fatal Outcomes among Pediatric Patients Hospitalized for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Sonora, Mexico, 2004–20241
, and Gerardo Álvarez-Hernández2
Table 3
Treatment and outcomes for fatal and nonfatal cases in study of predictors of fatal outcomes among pediatric patients hospitalized for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Sonora, Mexico, 2004–2024*
| Characteristic | No. cases | No. (%) cases |
p value† | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fatal | Nonfatal cases | Total | |||
| Doxycycline initiated | 500 | 0.01 | |||
| <5 days | 40 (40.4) | 236 (58.9) | 276 (55.2) | ||
| >6 days | 50 (50.5) | 164 (40.9) | 214 (42.8) | ||
| Not treated |
9 (9.1) |
1 (0.2) |
10 (2.0) |
||
| Clinical complications‡ | |||||
| Vascular§ | 496 | 80 (83.3) | 106 (26.5) | 186 (37.5) | <0.001 |
| Bacterial¶ | 494 | 72 (75.0) | 141 (35.4) | 213 (43.1) | <0.001 |
| Neurologic# | 461 | 14 (21.5) | 58 (14.6) | 72 (15.6) | 0.19 |
| Acute respiratory distress syndrome | 500 | 63 (63.6) | 89 (22.2) | 152 (30.4) | <0.001 |
| Acute renal failure | 499 | 60 (61.2) | 27 (6.7) | 87 (17.4) | <0.001 |
| Shock | 500 | 79 (79.8) | 135 (33.7) | 214 (42.8) | <0.001 |
*Bold font indicates statistical significance (p<0.05). †Based on Fisher exact or Pearson χ2 test. ‡Patients could have >1 complication. §Including hemorrhage, disseminated intravascular coagulation, necrosis, edema of target organs (brain, lung), and others. ¶Including nosocomial pneumonia, meningitis/encephalitis, septic hepatitis, bacterial endocarditis, and others. #Including neuromuscular disturbances, neuropsychiatric alterations, speech disorders, cerebral palsy, hepatic encephalopathy, and others.
1Preliminary results from this study were presented at the Southeastern Pediatric Research Conference; June 6, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; and at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Conference; November 10, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2These senior authors contributed equally to this article.