Table 1

Diagnostic classification of the 264 patients

Group no.	Definition	Number	Median age (mth)
1	Meningococcal disease, confirmed	29	30
2	Meningococcal disease, probable	10	26
3	Invasive bacterial infection, excluding MD	6	14
4	Enterovirus infection	18	21
5	Adenovirus infection	11	22
6	No invasive bacterial disease^1-150	140	27
7	Insufficient information^1-151	50	18

For statistical analyses, groups 1 and 2 were pooled and compared to groups 4–6, pooled. The latter group of 169 children were considered to be without invasive bacterial infection.
↵1-150 Either no bacteria in cultures from blood or spinal fluid and no antibiotic treatment prior to culture; or no blood culture, but spontaneous recovery—that is, no antibiotic treatment before or during hospitalisation.
↵1-151 Either antibiotic treatment prior to blood culture; or no blood culture, but treated with antibiotics.