Comparison of infants admitted from home and infants in hospital at the time of diagnosis
| Variable | All cases | Home (n=66) | Inpatient (n=31) | p Value |
| Median age at disease (days) | 14 (3–25) | 17 (11–34) | 1 (0–7) | 0.0001 |
| Early onset (<7 days) | 30 (31%) | 8 (12%) | 22 (71%) | <0.0001 |
| Male | 52 (54%) | 34 (52%) | 18 (58%) | 0.5 |
| Prematurity | 23 (24%) | 8 (12%) | 15 (48%) | <0.0001 |
| Out-of-hours presentation | 47 (48%) | 30 (45%) | 17 (55%) | 0.4 |
| Fever on presentation | 48 (51%) | 40 (61%) | 8 (26%) | 0.001 |
| Seizure at presentation | 33 (34%) | 21 (32%) | 12 (39%) | 0.5 |
| Received fluid bolus at presentation | 53 (55%) | 36 (55%) | 17 (55%) | 0.7 |
| Antibiotics delay (hours) | 2 (1.3–4) | 2 (1–3.3) | 2.6 (1.3–9.8) | 0.09 |
| LP done post first dose of antibiotics | 57 (59%) | 30 (45%) | 27 (87%) | <0.0001 |
| Antibiotics to LP time >24 hours | 33 (59%) | 14 (47%) | 19 (70%) | 0.07 |
| Median time to LP and no bacteria in CSF (hours) | 46 (24–92.5) | 24 (15.2–52.8) | 65 (44–100.8) | 0.017 |
| Median time to LP and bacteria in CSF (hours) | 7.3 (1.5–2.4) | 3 (1–24) | 9.5 (2–24) | 0.3 |
| Empiric antibiotics not in conformity with national guidelines | 52 (54%) | 35 (53%) | 17 (55%) | 0.9 |
| Discharge to first OPD review (months) | 2.5 (2.0–3.5) | 2.5 (2.0–4.0) | 2.5 (2.0–2.5) | 0.6 |
| Discharge from follow-up age <12 months | 13 (14%) | 12/65 (18%) | 1/31 (3%) | 0.03 |
| Discharge from follow-up age <24 months | 31 (32%) | 26/65 (40%) | 5/31 (16%) | 0.02 |
| Hearing test performed in survivors* | 74 (77%) | 53/65 (82%) | 21/31 (68%) | 0.1 |
| Neurological complications | 40 (42%) | 26/65 (40%) | 14/31 (45%) | 0.6 |
| Discharge to audiology test (days) | 25 (0–32) | 24 (10–42) | 26 (0–28) | 0.2 |
| Informed of meningitis support charities | 13/97 (13%) | 11/66 (17%) | 2/31 (6%) | 0.2 |
*There were 22 survivors without report of hearing test. 12 (13%) had no record of hearing test at review, 5 (5%) were transferred to another hospital where data were not available, and 4 (12%) had the review <1 month after discharge and 1 (1%) missed two appointments.
CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; LP, lumbar puncture; OPD, outpatient department.