Factors Predicting Blood Culture Positivity in Children With Enteric Fever.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Blood culture, despite low sensitivity, is the gold standard for enteric fever diagnosis. Understanding predictors of blood culture positivity may help design strategies to optimize enteric fever diagnosis.

Methods

A cohort of 6760 children aged 0.5-15 years was followed for 3 years for enteric fever with blood cultures in an automated system, for fevers >3 days. Factors affecting test positivity in fevers and participant-level predictors for culture refusals were analyzed using regression models.

Results

Overall, 6097 suspected typhoid/paratyphoid fever (STF) episodes were reported, of which 5703 (93.5%) STFs had sampling for blood cultures, with 394 (6.5%) refusals. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi/Paratyphi positivity was culture-confirmed in 3.8% (218/

SUBMITTER: Srinivasan M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8892536 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature