Evidence map›Paper›PMID 15506578›Full record

Trial reportAnnals of family medicine

The primary care differential diagnosis of inhalational anthrax.

Jonathan L Temte, Andrew R Zinkel

Open access · diamondAbstract readClinical TrialRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Annals of family medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Using a relational database to index infectious disease information.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2010
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jonathan L TemteDepartment of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, Wis 53715, USA. jtemte@wingra.fammed.wisc.edu
Andrew R Zinkel
University of Wisconsin–Madison · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeInhalational anthrax is an extremely rare infectious disease with nonspecific initial symptoms, thus making diagnosis on clinical grounds difficult. After a covert release of anthrax spores, primary care physicians will be among the first to evaluate cases. This study defines the primary care differential diagnosis of inhalational anthrax.

methodsIn May 2002, we mailed survey instruments consisting of 3 randomly chosen case vignettes describing patients with inhalational anthrax to a nationwide random sample of 665 family physicians. Nonrespondents received additional mailings. Physicians were asked to provide their most likely nonanthrax diagnosis for each case.

resultsThe response rate was 36.9%. Diagnoses for inhalational anthrax were grouped into 35 diagnostic categories, with pneumonia (42%), influenza (10%), viral syndrome (9%), septicemia (8%), bronchitis (7%), central nervous system infection (6%), and gastroenteritis (4%) accounting for 86% of all diagnoses. Diagnoses differed significantly between cases that proved to be fatal and those that proved to be nonfatal.

conclusionsInhalational anthrax resembles common diagnoses in primary care. Surveillance systems for early detection of bioterrorism events that rely only on diagnostic codes will be hampered by false-positive alerts. Consequently, educating frontline physicians to recognize and respond to bioterrorism is of the highest priority.

Indexed as

BioterrorismClinical CompetenceFamily PracticeAnthraxDiagnosis, DifferentialFemaleHumansInhalation ExposureMaleRespiratory Tract InfectionsWisconsin

Identifiers

PMID15506578
PMCPMC1466714
OpenAlexW2134515714

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.