ARTICLE Clinical Predictors of Influenza in Children Marla J. Friedman, DO; Magdy W. Attia, MD Background: It is difficult to diagnose influenza infec- Results: The mean±SD age of patients was 6.2±5.2 years; tion on clinical grounds alone. Available rapid diagnos- 50% were boys. Viral isolates included the following: in- tic tests have limited sensitivities. fluenza A, 45 patients (35%); influenza B, 13 (10%); other viruses, 10 (8%); negative results, 60 (47%). Demo- Objective: To develop a prediction model that identi- graphic and clinical findings were not significantly differ- fies children likely to have influenza infection. ent between the influenza A and influenza B groups. Cough (P=.003), headache (P=.04), and pharyngitis (P=.04) were Design: Prospective study. independently associated with influenza infection. This triad used as a prediction model for influenza infection had a Setting: Emergency department of a children’s hospital. sensitivity of 80% (95% confidence interval [CI], 69%- 91%); specificity, 78% (95% CI, 67%-89%); and likeli- Patients: All patients with a febrile respiratory illness hood ratio for a positive viral culture for influenza, 3.7 (95% during the influenza season of winter 2002 were eli- CI, 2.3-6.3). The posttest probability of this clinical defi- gible. A prospective sample of 128 children who were sus- nition is 77% (95% CI, 63%-91%). pected of having influenza infection based on predeter- mined criteria was enrolled. Each patient received a nasal Conclusion: The triad of cough, headache, and phar- wash for viral culture. yngitis is a predictor of influenza infection in children. Main Outcome Measure: Clinical features that are most predictive of influenza infection in children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004;158:391-394 NFLUENZA IS A COMMON FEBRILE dren, but no characteristic symptom or illness with a significant impact symptom complex has been identified. Re- on the pediatric population. Dur- ported manifestations of influenza in chil- ing annual outbreaks, 15% to 20% dren include abrupt onset of high fever, of children are infected with in- coryza, cough, sore throat, vomiting, di- Ifluenza.1,2 Estimates of annual outpatient arrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue, head- visits attributable to influenza range from ache, and myalgias. The classic symp- 6 to 29 per 100 visits.3,4 School absentee- toms often associated with influenza in ism, parental work absenteeism, and sec- adults are not easily identified in chil- ondary illness among family members are dren. all significantly higher during influenza The gold standard for diagnosing in- season than throughout the rest of the win- fluenza infection is viral isolation by cul- 5 From the Department of ter. Infants and young children are hos- ture. However, viral culture results are not Pediatrics, Division of pitalized for influenza-associated ill- available in time to influence patient man- Emergency Medicine, nesses at rates comparable with those of agement. The rapid tests available to di- Alfred I. duPont Hospital for high-risk adults and elderly patients.3,6 Fur- agnose influenza are limited by their di- Children, Wilmington, Del; and thermore, influenza is commonly impli- agnostic abilities. A review of the studies Jefferson Medical College, cated as a cause of nosocomial infections performed on commercially available rapid Thomas Jefferson University, in pediatric inpatient units.7,8 tests reveals great variability in the sensi- Philadelphia, Pa. Dr Friedman is now with the Department of The nonspecific presentation of in- tivities (40%-100%), specificities (63%- Pediatrics, Division of fluenza infection makes it difficult to dis- 100%), positive predictive values (PPVs) Emergency Medicine, Miami tinguish from other febrile or respiratory (43%-100%), and negative predictive val- Children’s Hospital, illnesses. Many clinical features have been ues (56%-100%) of these tests. The higher Miami, Fla. associated with influenza illness in chil- sensitivities are often difficult to repro- (REPRINTED) ARCH PEDIATR ADOLESC MED/ VOL 158, APR 2004 WWW.ARCHPEDIATRICS.COM 391 ©2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. Downloaded From: https://jamanetwork.com/ on 09/26/2021 duce in clinical practice, and false-negative results are This study was approved with consent waiver by the in- likely to occur.9 As predictive values are affected by dis- stitutional review board of our institution (Alfred I. duPont Hos- ease prevalence, these diagnostic tests are most helpful pital for Children). during periods of high influenza activity. However, it seems impractical and inefficient to test each patient with STUDY PERIOD suspected influenza infection, even during peak season. The beginning of influenza season was defined as the period The diagnostic abilities of these tests can be enhanced if following the detection of 2 consecutive isolates in one week patients with a high likelihood of influenza infection are of either influenza A or influenza B from viral culture in the selected for testing based on a set of clinical criteria. Dif- community. The season ended with the identification of the ferentiating influenza infection from infection caused by last of 2 consecutive isolates in one week. Patients were en- other respiratory pathogens is important for several rea- rolled from January 14, 2002, through March 29, 2002. sons. From a public health perspective, understanding the magnitude of illness attributable to influenza is cru- VIROLOGIC ANALYSIS cial for surveillance data across communities and states. Local and national surveillance is useful for predicting Viral culture specimens from nasal washes were inoculated onto human lung tissue (MRC-5) cells, rhesus monkey kid- health care resource needs (hospital beds, staffing, sup- ney cells, human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells, human epi- ply of diagnostic tests and antivirals needed) and for de- dermoid laryngeal carcinoma (Hep-2) cells, and human lung 10 tecting pandemics. Furthermore, children are consid- carcinoma (A-549) cells. These cells were incubated at ered an important factor in this process by introducing 34.5°C and observed daily for 28 days for cytopathic effect. infection into the home and transmitting it to adult and All viruses isolated by culture were confirmed by immuno- elderly patients.1 Timely diagnosis is imperative for the fluorescence staining. initiation of appropriate antiviral treatment and for the proper isolation of hospitalized patients. Both of these STATISTICAL ANALYSIS interventions may aid in reducing the overall disease im- pact. These many factors argue for enhancing the clini- The primary outcome measures were the clinical features that are most predictive of influenza infection in children. cal prediction of this disease. Interobserver agreement was evaluated for each of the clini- The purpose of this study was to identify a clinical cal examination findings. Two physicians performed separate prediction model for influenza infection in children. examinations and recorded their observations independently. Data was analyzed for agreement rates, and by ␬ statistics. METHODS Sample size was calculated to detect a 30% difference be- tween assumed prevalence of influenza in tested patients (a 50-50 DESIGN AND DEFINITIONS chance, or 50%) and the hypothesis that a prediction model will possess a sensitivity that is approximately equal to rapid This prospective study was conducted during the 2002 influ- test (80%). After continuity correction, a sample size of 45 pa- enza season (January-March). All patients (birth through age tients in each of 2 groups representing influenza-positive and 17 years) who were seen in the emergency department of a sub- influenza-negative patients was estimated. urban tertiary pediatric center with a febrile respiratory illness Demographic and clinical findings of patients with influ- were eligible. A consecutive sample of children suspected of enza A and influenza B were compared with each other using ϫ having influenza infection were enrolled. Enrollment criteria 2 2 contingency tables, independent sample t test, or Mann- included fever and at least one of the following symptoms: co- Whitney U test, depending on their parametric distribution. A ryza, cough, headache, sore throat, or muscle aches. Fever was univariate analysis was then performed on all influenza pa- defined as an emergency department temperature higher than tients as a group compared with those patients who had no vi- 38°C or history of similar temperature within the previous 24 ral pathogen isolated. A binary logistic regression analysis us- hours. All enrolled patients received a nasal wash for viral cul- ing backwards stepwise elimination was performed to identify ture. At the time of evaluation, a standardized data collection variables independently associated with influenza infection. Fe- form was completed by the physician for each enrolled pa- ver greater than or equal to 39°C was entered as a dichoto- tient. Demographic information, duration of illness, day care mized variable. To simplify the analysis, the remainder of the attendance, and triage vital signs were recorded for each pa- vital signs were not included. All tests were 2-tailed and con- Յ tient. The presence or absence of 24 clinical features (12 his- sidered significant at P .05. Statistical analyses were per- torical features and 12 physical examination findings) was noted formed using SPSS version 11.5 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, Ill). on the same form. The historical features were recorded as di- chotomous