The Incidence of Infection Complicating Snakebites in Tropical Australia: Implications for Clinical Management and Antimicrobial Prophylaxis
Table 4
Comparison of patients who were diagnosed with infection during their hospitalisation and those who were not.
Variable
Diagnosed with infection, n = 6
No infection, n = 726
a
Age (years)
42 (13–50)
33 (19–52)
0.82
Male gender
3 (50%)
450 (62%)
0.68
Lowest haemoglobinb (g/L)
134 (124–144)
137 (126–147)
0.60
Highest white cell count (×109/L)b
11.2 (9.2–20.2)
8.3 (6.9–9.9)
0.009
Highest neutrophil count (×109/L)b
8.3 (5.0–17.8)
4.6 (3.6–6.0)
0.008
Lowest platelets (×109/L)b
243 (189–339)
228 (196–265)
0.52
Highest aPTT (seconds)b
34 (28–38)
30 (27–33)
0.24
Lowest fibrinogen (g/L)b
2.8 (2.3–3.3)
2.5 (2.1–3.0)
0.57
Highest INRb
1.1 (1.1–1.2)
1.1 (1.0–1.1)
0.23
Highest creatinine kinase (units/L)b
483 (154–1768)
153 (106–240)
0.02
Highest creatinine (µmol/L)b
68 (47–98)
73 (60–87)
0.73
Highest CRP (mg/L)b c
34
1.0 (1.0–9.7)
0.08
Erythemab
3 (50%)
25 (3%)
0.001
Pusb
0
0
—
Blisteringb
0
1 (0.1%)
1.0
Antivenom administered
3 (50%)
26 (4%)
0.001
Taipan bite
3 (50%)
15 (2%)
<0.0001
Brown snakebite
0
4 (0.6%)
1.0
Black snakebite
0
3 (0.4%)
1.0
Tiger bite
0
3 (0.4%)
1.0
Death adder bite
0
1 (0.1%)
1.0
Bite on limbs
6 (100%)
711 (98%)
1.0
All numbers represent absolute number (%) or median (interquartile range). aPTT: activated partial thromboplastin clotting time; INR: international normalised ratio; CRP: C-reactive protein. aUnadjusted analysis presented. bIn the first 24 hours of hospitalisation. cOnly 1 patient who was diagnosed with infection had a C-reactive protein measured in the first 24 hour.
