Clinical features applicable to the entire spectrum of viral meningitis are limited, and prognostic factors for adverse outcomes are undetermined. This nationwide population-based prospective cohort study included all adults with presumed and microbiologically confirmed viral meningitis in Denmark from 2015 until 2020. Prognostic factors for an unfavourable outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale score of 1–4) 30 days after discharge were examined by modified Poisson regression. In total, 1066 episodes of viral meningitis were included, yielding a mean annual incidence of 4.7 episodes per 100 000 persons. Pathogens were enteroviruses in 419/1066 (39%), herpes simplex virus type 2 in 171/1066 (16%), varicella-zoster virus in 162/1066 (15%), miscellaneous viruses in 31/1066 (3%) and remained unidentified in 283/1066 (27%). The median age was 33 years (IQR 27–44), and 576/1066 (54%) were females. In herpes simplex virus type 2 meningitis, 131/171 (77%) were females. Immunosuppression [32/162 (20%)] and shingles [90/149 (60%)] were frequent in varicella-zoster virus meningitis. The triad of headache, neck stiffness and hyperacusis or photophobia was present in 264/960 (28%). The median time until lumbar puncture was 3.0 h (IQR 1.3–7.1), and the median CSF leucocyte count was 160 cells/µl (IQR 60–358). The outcome was unfavourable in 216/1055 (20%) 30 days after discharge. Using unidentified pathogen as the reference, the adjusted relative risk of an unfavourable outcome was 1.34 (95% CI 0.95–1.88) for enteroviruses, 1.55 (95% CI 1.00–2.41) for herpes simplex virus type 2, 1.51 (95% CI 0.98–2.33) for varicella-zoster virus and 1.37 (95% CI 0.61–3.05) for miscellaneous viruses. The adjusted relative risk of an unfavourable outcome was 1.34 (95% CI 1.03–1.75) for females. Timing of acyclovir or valacyclovir was not associated with the outcome in meningitis caused by herpes simplex virus type 2 or varicella-zoster virus. In summary, the outcome of viral meningitis was similar among patients with different aetiologies, including those with presumed viral meningitis but without an identified pathogen. Females had an increased risk of an unfavourable outcome. Early antiviral treatment was not associated with an improved outcome in meningitis caused by herpes simplex virus type 2 or varicella-zoster virus.

Background Few prospective studies have evaluated the quick Sequential (Sepsis-Related) Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) criteria in emergency department (ED)settings. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic accuracy of qSOFA compared with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) in predicting the 28-day mortality of infected patients admitted to an ED. Methods A prospective observational cohort study of all adult (≥18 years) infected patients admitted to the ED of Slagelse Hospital, Denmark, was conducted from 1 October 2017 to 31 March 2018. Patients were enrolled consecutively and data related to SIRS and qSOFA criteria were obtained from electronic triage record. Information regarding mortality was obtained from the Danish Civil Registration System. The original cut-off values of ≥2 was used to determine the prognostic accuracy of SIRS and qSOFA criteria for predicting 28-day mortality and was assessed by analyses of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, likelihood ratios and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results A total of 2112 patients were included in this study. A total of 175 (8.3%) patients met at least two qSOFA criteria, while 1012 (47.9%) met at least two SIRS criteria on admission. A qSOFA criteria of at least two for predicting 28-day mortality had a sensitivity of 19.5% (95% CI 13.6% to 26.5%) and a specificity of 92.6% (95% CI 91.4% to 93.7%). A SIRS criteria of at least two for predicting 28-day mortality had a sensitivity of 52.8% (95% CI 44.8% to 60.8%) and a specificity of 52.5% (95% CI 50.2% to 54.7%). The AUROC values for qSOFA and SIRS were 0.63 (95% CI 0.59 to 0.67) and 0.52 (95% CI 0.48 to 0.57), respectively. Conclusion Both SIRS and qSOFA had poor sensitivity for 28-day mortality. qSOFA improved the specificity at the expense of the sensitivity resulting in slightly higher prognostic accuracy overall.

The ability of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lactate to distinguish between acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) and aseptic meningitis/encephalitis (AME) is debated. We assessed the diagnostic value of CSF lactate to discriminate between ABM and AME. We included 176 patients from a prospective adult cohort with neuroinfections. In total, 51 ABM and 125 AME patients with clinically and/or microbiologically diagnosed acute meningitis were examined with CSF-lactate and traditional markers for infection. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess diagnostic performance. In CSF, lactate, leukocytes, fraction of neutrophils, protein and glucose ratio, were significantly different between the ABM and AME groups. CSF lactate had the best diagnostic value, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.976 (95%CI 0.966-0.997) and using a cut-off of 3.5 mmol/L a sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 85%. Antibiotic treatment before lumbar puncture had no significant effect on the AUC of CSF lactate. Compared to traditional CSF-markers, CSF lactate is more accurate to distinguish between ABM and AME.

Objectives: Patients with haematological disorders may be particularly vulnerable to respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection; however, this is unknown.Methods: We conducted a prospective, nationwide study including 66 patients in follow‐up at Danish haematology departments with a malignant or non‐malignant haematological disorder and with verified SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Outcomes were intensive care unit (ICU) admission and one‐month survival rate.Results: Mean age was 66.7 years, 60.6% were males, 90.9% had comorbidity, and 13.6% had a BMI ≥ 30. The most frequent diagnoses were chronic lymphocytic leukaemia/lymphoma (47.0%), multiple myeloma (16.7%) and acute leukaemia/myelodysplastic syndrome (AL/MDS) (12.1%). Treatment for the haematological disease was ongoing in 59.1% of cases. Neutropenia was present in 6.5%, lymphopenia in 46.6% and hypogammaglobulinaemia in 26.3%. The SARS‐CoV‐2 infection was mild in 50.0%, severe in 36.4% and critical in 13.6%. After one month, 21.2% had been admitted to ICU, and 24.2% died. Mortality was highest in older patients, patients with severe/critical SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, high comorbidity score or high performance status score, purine analogue treatment and with AL/MDS. Although older patients and patients with comorbidities had the highest mortality rates, mortality was considerable among all haematological patients.Conclusion: Haematological patients with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection has a severe clinical course.

BACKGROUND: The high-dose inactivated influenza vaccine (HD-IIV) has demonstrated superior protection against a range of hospitalization end points versus standard-dose inactivated influenza vaccine (SD-IIV), but its effectiveness against specific cardiovascular outcomes and in those with pre-existing cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not well elucidated. METHODS: In a prespecified secondary analysis of the FLUNITY-HD (Pooled Analysis of Methodologically Harmonized Pragmatic Randomized Trials of High-Dose vs. Standard-Dose Influenza Vaccine Against Severe Clinical Outcomes) individual-level pooled data set integrating 2 methodologically harmonized pragmatic, individually randomized trials conducted in Denmark and Spain, we investigated the relative vaccine effectiveness of HD-IIV versus SD-IIV against severe cardiovascular outcomes and according to pre-existing CVD among adults ≥65 years of age. Data were primarily obtained from routine health care databases, with follow-up from 14 days after vaccination to May 31 the following year. RESULTS: The pooled data set encompassed 466 320 individually randomized participants, of whom 107 700 (23.1%) had a history of CVD. HD-IIV reduced the incidence of hospitalization for influenza or pneumonia, cardiorespiratory disease, laboratory-confirmed influenza, and any cause compared with SD-IIV, irrespective of the presence or absence of pre-existing CVD ( P _interaction >0.66 for all outcomes). Compared with the SD-IIV group, the HD-IIV group had a significantly lower incidence of hospitalization for any CVD (HD-IIV, 1.15%, versus SD-IIV, 1.24%; relative vaccine effectiveness, 6.6% [95% CI, 1.6–11.4]; P =0.010), hospitalization for any respiratory disease (HD-IIV, 0.92%, versus SD-IIV, 0.98%; relative vaccine effectiveness, 6.5% [95% CI, 0.7–11.9]; P =0.027), and hospitalization for heart failure (HD-IIV, 0.11%, versus SD-IIV, 0.15%; relative vaccine effectiveness, 21.3% [95% CI, 7.6–33.0]; P =0.003). CONCLUSIONS: In a prespecified pooled analysis of 466 320 individually randomized older adults, HD-IIV reduced the incidence of a wide range of severe cardiovascular and respiratory outcomes compared with SD-IIV, with consistent findings regardless of previous history of CVD. Among cardiovascular outcomes, the protective effect of HD-IIV versus SD-IIV was particularly pronounced against hospitalization for heart failure. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT06506812.