Objective: To investigate the relationship between clinical features of patients with A/H5N1 infection and their prognosis in mainland China.
Methods: This study included 28 human cases with A/H5N1 infection in mainland China from October 2005 to May 2008. Data were collected and reviewed from hospital medical records and publishied papers. A database was built by EPIDATA 3.02 and statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 13.0.
Results: The median age of the 28 cases was 29 years (range 6-62), and 15 were females. Ten patients survived, and 18 died. The typically clinical manifestations of human influenza A/H5N1 infection included fever and lower respiratory infection. The numbers of peripheral white blood cells, lymphocytes and platelets in the survival and non-survival groups were (4.01 +/- 1.86) x 10(9)/L vs (5.1 +/- 2.9) x 10(9)/L, (1.09 +/- 0.49) x 10(9)/L vs (0.98 +/- 0.44) x 10(9)/L, and (116 +/- 39) x 10(9)/L vs (101 +/- 40) x 10(9)/L, respectively; the differences were not statistically significant between the 2 groups (P>0.05). There was also no statistically significant difference in the increased serum enzymes, such as aspartate aminotransferase [(173 +/- 246) U/L vs (272 +/- 263) U/L], lactate dehydrogenase [(1016 +/- 568) U/L vs (1512 +/- 1052) U/L], creatine kinase [(1099 +/- 1590) U/L vs (2534 +/- 4281) U/L] and MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase [(28 +/- 30) U/L vs (125 +/- 197) U/L] (P>0.05) between the survival and the non-survival groups. However, there was a statistically significant difference in the number of patients with an initial LDH level more than 8 fold of the normal value between the survival and the non-survival groups (none vs 6, P<0.05). All of the 28 cases developed bilateral multiple infiltrates and consolidation in chest radiographs. Acute respiratory distress syndrome occurred in 22 cases, 17 of them died. All the 9 patients with acute kidney injury died. Ten patients received antiviral treatment with oseltamivir, and 6 of them survived. There was a statistical difference in the time of initiating oseltamivir treatment between the survival and the non-survival cases [(6.5 +/- 3.0) d vs (11.8 +/- 3.3) d, Z = 3.70, P<0.05]. Broad spectrum antibiotics and corticosteroids were administered in all of the 28 cases. There was no statistical difference between the survival and the non-survival groups regarding to the corticosteroid treatment (P>0.05).
Conclusions: Initial LDH level reaching more than 8 fold of the normal value suggests a poor prognosis for human H5N1 infection. Patients complicated with either ARDS or acute kidney injury had a higher risk of death. Early administration of effective antiviral agents might improve the prognosis and decrease case fatality.