Table 2

Basic characteristics of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and of nosocomial fevers of unknown origin (nFUO)

Item
HAI (N = 263)
nFUO (N = 464)
P-value

Number of patients included (in total, n = 411)
181
230
-
Age at diagnosis of HAI/nFUO


< 0.001
     < 5 years
84 (32%)
174 (38%)

     5 years to < 10 years
58 (22%)
130 (28%)

     10 years to < 15 years
56 (21%)
99 (21%)

     ≥ 15 years
65 (25%)
61 (13%)

Underlying disease


0.07
     Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
86 (33%)
136 (29%)

     Acute myeloid leukemia
34 (13%)
40 (9%)

     Lymphoma
29 (11%)
48 (10%)

     solid tumor outside central nervous system
70 (27%)
166 (36%)

     solid tumor of central nervous system
34 (13%)
65 (14%)

     non-malignant hematologic disease
10 (4%)
9 (2%)

Relapse of malignancy
54 (21%)
68 (15%)
0.049
Therapy§ preceding HAI/nFUO


0.18
     conventional chemotherapy
214 (81%)
391 (84%)

     high-dose chemotherapy & autologous SCT
22 (8%)
44 (9%)

     high-dose chemotherapy & allogeneic SCT
26 (10%)
25 (5%)

     radiation therapy
14 (5%)
22 (5%)

Neutropenia at diagnosis of HAI/nFUO
145 (55%)
232 (50%)
0.19

Indicated are numbers (proportion of respective events).

§Since more than one treatment modality was applicable, the numbers do not add up to 263 and 464, respectively.

Simon et al. BMC Infectious Diseases 2008 8:70   doi:10.1186/1471-2334-8-70