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Published on: January 30, 2017
C-reactive protein and leukocytes do not reliably indicate severity of influenza a infection in childhood
Monika Edelbauer1, Reinhard Würzner, Beate Jahn
1Department of Paediatrics, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
Insights
C-reactive protein and leukocyte counts do not reliably indicate the clinical severity of influenza A in children. These common lab tests appear insufficient for assessing illness severity in pediatric flu cases.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Clinical Immunology
- Biomarker Research
Background:
- Influenza in children can present with symptoms overlapping other infections, complicating diagnosis and treatment.
- Accurate assessment of influenza severity is crucial for optimizing treatment strategies in pediatric patients.
- Identifying reliable clinical parameters to gauge influenza severity is an ongoing clinical need.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and leukocyte counts correlate with clinical illness severity in children diagnosed with influenza A.
- To evaluate the utility of CRP and leukocyte counts as biomarkers for predicting influenza severity in pediatric patients.
Main Methods:
- Prospective screening of 432 children for influenza infection.
- Analysis of 46 children aged 4 weeks to 14 years with confirmed influenza A.
- Calculation of a clinical illness severity score based on presented symptoms.
- Correlation and regression analyses to assess the relationship between the clinical score and CRP values, leukocyte counts, age, and hospitalization duration.
Main Results:
- C-reactive protein values did not show a significant correlation with the clinical score of influenza severity (r=0.14, p=0.35).
- Leukocyte counts also did not significantly correlate with the clinical score of influenza severity (r=-0.14, p=0.34).
- Neither CRP nor leukocyte counts appear to be reliable indicators of clinical severity in pediatric influenza A.
Conclusions:
- C-reactive protein and leukocyte counts are insufficient parameters for assessing the clinical severity of influenza A infection in children during routine clinical practice.
- Further research is needed to identify more effective biomarkers or clinical tools for evaluating pediatric influenza severity.
- These findings suggest that clinical judgment based on symptoms remains paramount in managing pediatric influenza cases.
Abstract:
Influenza in children may mimic other infections leading to insufficient treatment. Determination of parameters that facilitate diagnosis and indicate severity would be useful to optimize treatment modalities. We prospectively screened 432 children for influenza infection. Forty-six children at the age of 4 weeks to 14 years (median, 18 months) with confirmed influenza A infection were analyzed. A clinical score of illness severity was calculated from the symptoms presented. To evaluate the dependency of the clinical score on C-reactive protein value, leukocyte count, age, and days of hospitalization, correlation and regression analyses were carried out. Neither the C-reactive protein values (median, 0.85 mg/dL; range, 0.2-18.6; r=0.14; p=0.35) nor the leukocyte counts (median, 7.95 G/L; range, 3.5-17.6; r=-0.14, p=0.34) correlated significantly with the clinical score of influenza severity. Thus, in daily clinical practice, C-reactive protein and leukocytes seem to be insufficient parameters to describe the clinical severity of influenza A infection in children.
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