Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30956993›Full record

ArticleOpen forum infectious diseases2019

A Retrospective Forensic Review of Unexpected Infectious Deaths.

Prateek Sehgal, Michael Pollanen, Nick Daneman

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Open forum infectious diseases, 2019. 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
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

  1. Article
  2. Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Article
  3. Exebacase Is ActiveAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2021
    Article
  4. 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

3 authors.

Prateek SehgalDepartment of Medicine, Toronto, Canada.
Michael PollanenOntario Forensic Pathology Service, Toronto, Canada.
Nick DanemanDivision of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Epidemiology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere exists a knowledge gap in identifying the spectrum of infectious pathogens and syndromes that lead to fulminant decline and death. The aim of this study was to better characterize patient-, pathogen-, and disease-related factors in the phenomenon of unexpected infectious deaths.

methodsWe conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study of all community-based, unexpected infectious deaths in Ontario, Canada between January 2016 and December 2017. Patient-related information, infection-related information, and circumstances around the death were extracted for each case to facilitate descriptive analyses.

resultsOf the 7506 unexpected deaths over the study period, 418 (6%) were due to infectious diseases. Bacterial pneumonia (43%) was the most common infectious syndrome, followed by disseminated infection with no clear focus (12%), peritonitis (10%), myocarditis (6%), and pyelonephritis (5%). A pathogen was identified in 210 cases (50%), with the most common being

conclusionInfectious diseases have the capacity to cause fulminant decline and death. The most common cause of unexpected infectious death is bacterial pneumonia, with a predominance of gram-positive bacteria. Given the rapidity of these deaths, preventing a majority of them would require upstream strategies to reduce infection susceptibility and transmission.

Indexed as

epidemiologyforensicinfectious diseasessepsisunexpected death

Identifiers

PMID30956993
PMCPMC6441567

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Registered trials

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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.