Background characteristics and prevalence of severe symptoms for 475 paediatric participants in the severe febrile illness social biopsy study, Tanzania, 2015–2016.
| Characteristic | Total (n=475) | Cases (n=18) | Survivors (n=457) | P value† | Matched on age and gender* | |
| Controls (n=142) | P value‡ | |||||
| Age (years) | 2.2 (2.5)§ | 1.8 (2.2)§ | 2.2 (2.5)§ | 0.524 | 1.9 (2.2)§ | 0.791 |
| Duration of illness at time of enrolment (days) | 6.6 (5.2)§ | 12.4 (13.0)§ | 6.4 (4.5)§ | <0.001 | 6.6 (5.1)§ | <0.001 |
| Gender | ||||||
| Female | 205 (43.2) | 10 (55.6) | 195 (42.7) | 0.283 | 75 (52.8) | 0.826 |
| Admitting hospital | ||||||
| KCMC | 251 (52.8) | 13 (72.2) | 238 (52.1) | 77 (54.2) | ||
| MRRH | 224 (47.2) | 5 (27.8) | 219 (47.9) | 0.093 | 65 (45.8) | 0.147 |
| Tribe | ||||||
| Chagga | 232 (48.8) | 6 (33.3) | 226 (49.5) | 57 (40.1) | ||
| Pare | 61 (12.8) | 5 (27.8) | 56 (12.3) | 24 (16.9) | ||
| Maasai | 16 (3.4) | 0 (0.0) | 16 (3.5) | 5 (3.5) | ||
| Other | 166 (34.9) | 7 (38.9) | 159 (34.8) | 0.180 | 56 (39.4) | 0.601 |
| Education¶ | ||||||
| None | 11 (2.3) | 1 (5.6) | 10 (2.2) | 4 (2.8) | ||
| Primary (1–7 years) | 226 (47.8) | 10 (55.6) | 216 (47.5) | 65 (46.1) | ||
| Secondary (8–11 years) | 152 (32.1) | 6 (33.3) | 146 (32.1) | 53 (37.6) | ||
| High school (12–13 years) | 2 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| University/college | 82 (17.3) | 1 (5.6) | 81 (17.8) | 0.616 | 19 (13.5) | 0.670 |
| Home region | ||||||
| Kilimanjaro | 427 (90.1) | 14 (77.8) | 413 (90.6) | 130 (91.5) | ||
| Other | 47 (9.9) | 4 (22.2) | 43 (9.4) | 0.075 | 12 (8.5) | 0.067 |
| Urban status** | ||||||
| Urban | 258 (64.7) | 6 (46.2) | 252 (65.3) | 84 (69.4) | ||
| Mixed | 22 (5.5) | 1 (7.7) | 21 (5.4) | 5 (4.1) | ||
| Rural | 119 (29.8) | 6 (46.2) | 113 (29.3) | 0.363 | 32 (26.4) | 0.236 |
| Self-reported HIV status | ||||||
| Positive | 4 (0.8) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (0.9) | 0.690 | 142 (100.0) | 1.000 |
| Recent hospitalisation (previous 12 months) | ||||||
| Yes | 174 (36.6) | 10 (55.6) | 164 (35.9) | 0.089 | 46 (32.4) | 0.052 |
| Has health insurance | ||||||
| Yes | 89 (18.7) | 1 (5.6) | 88 (19.3) | 0.144 | 28 (19.7) | 0.142 |
| Severe symptoms on entering health system | ||||||
| Lethargy | 87 (18.3) | 5 (27.8) | 82 (17.9) | 0.290 | 26 (18.3) | 0.338 |
| Inability to drink | 48 (10.1) | 4 (22.2) | 44 (9.6) | 0.082 | 17 (12) | 0.225 |
| Convulsions | 79 (16.6) | 6 (33.3) | 73 (16) | 0.052 | 23 (16.2) | 0.075 |
| Vomiting | 244 (51.5) | 10 (55.6) | 234 (51.3) | 0.724 | 68 (47.9) | 0.540 |
| Stiff neck | 12 (2.5) | 0 (0) | 12 (2.6) | 0.486 | 3 (2.1) | 0.534 |
| Severe skin pustules†† | 10 (4.9) | 0 (0) | 10 (5.1) | 0.487 | 4 (6.1) | 0.448 |
| Less movement†† | 185 (89.8) | 9 (100) | 176 (89.3) | 0.301 | 61 (92.4) | 0.393 |
| Chest indrawing†† | 35 (17.2) | 5 (55.6) | 30 (15.4) | 0.002 | 11 (16.7) | 0.008 |
| Pus draining from ear†† | 1 (0.5) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.5) | 0.830 | 1 (1.5) | 0.710 |
| Nasal flaring†† | 26 (12.7) | 1 (11.1) | 25 (12.8) | 0.885 | 10 (15.2) | 0.748 |
| Bulging fontanelle†† | 4 (2) | 0 (0) | 4 (2) | 0.665 | 1 (1.5) | 0.710 |
| Grunting†† | 25 (12.2) | 1 (11.1) | 24 (12.2) | 0.919 | 8 (12.1) | 0.930 |
Data are reported as n (%) unless otherwise indicated.
*9:1 nearest-neighbour matching with deduplication.
†P value is for the differences between cases and all survivors. P values are derived from t-test for means and χ2 tests for proportions.
‡P value is for the differences between cases and the given set of matched controls. P values are derived from t-test for means and χ2 tests for proportions.
§Data are reported as mean (SD).
¶ Highest education level completed by the caregiver.
**Urban, mixed or rural were assigned at ward level and are based on classification from the 2012 census that defined urban as, ‘localities that are identified as urban areas by the district authority’. Mixed refers to wards containing both urban and rural villages.
††Only assessed for participants less than 1 year of age.
KCMC, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre; MRRH, Mawenzi Regional Referral Hospital.