Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34386745›Full record

ArticleEClinicalMedicine2021

Outcomes of respiratory viral-bacterial co-infection in adult hospitalized patients.

Yingzhi Liu, Lowell Ling, Sunny H Wong, Maggie Ht Wang, J Ross Fitzgerald, Xuan Zou, Shisong Fang, Xiaodong Liu, Xiansong Wang, Wei Hu and 14 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 81 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
81citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
11.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

81 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 119 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Observational
  5. Review
  6. Challenges and opportunities in the management of severe pneumonia. Key concepts from the Seventh Annual Meeting of Spanish Experts 2025.Revista espanola de quimioterapia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia · 2026
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. SARS-CoV-2-International journal of microbiology · 2026
    Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

24 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.

Yingzhi LiuDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Lowell LingDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Sunny H WongDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Maggie Ht WangSchool of Public Health, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
J Ross FitzgeraldThe Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Xuan ZouShenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No.8, Longyuan Road, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, PR China.
Shisong FangShenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No.8, Longyuan Road, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, PR China.
Xiaodong LiuDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Xiansong WangDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Wei HuDepartment of Gastroenterology, Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
Hung ChanDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Yan WangDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Dan HuangDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Qing LiDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Wai T WongDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Gordon ChoiDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Huachun ZouSchool of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, PR China.
David Sc HuiDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Jun YuDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Gary TseTianjin Key Laboratory of Ionic-Molecular Function of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiology, Tianjin Institute of Cardiology, Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, PR China.
Tony GinDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
William Kk WuDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Matthew Tv ChanDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Lin ZhangDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
Chinese University of Hong Kong · HKShenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention · CNRoslin Institute · GBSecond Hospital of Tianjin Medical University · CNSouthern Medical University Shenzhen Hospital · CNSun Yat-sen University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundViral infections of the respiratory tract represent a major global health concern. Co-infection with bacteria may contribute to severe disease and increased mortality in patients. Nevertheless, viral-bacterial co-infection patterns and their clinical outcomes have not been well characterized to date. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical features and outcomes of patients with viral-bacterial respiratory tract co-infections.

methodsWe included 19,361 patients with respiratory infection due to respiratory viruses [influenza A and B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza] and/or bacteria in four tertiary hospitals in Hong Kong from 2013 to 2017 using a large territory-wide healthcare database. All microbiological tests were conducted within 48 h of hospital admission. Four etiological groups were included: (1) viral infection alone; (2) bacterial infection alone; (3) laboratory-confirmed viral-bacterial co-infection and (4) clinically suspected viral-bacterial co-infection who were tested positive for respiratory virus and negative for bacteria but had received at least four days of antibiotics. Clinical features and outcomes were recorded for laboratory-confirmed viral-bacterial co-infection patients compared to other three groups as control. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes were intensive care unit (ICU) admission and length of hospital stay. Propensity score matching estimated by binary logistic regression was used to adjust for the potential bias that may affect the association between outcomes and covariates.

findingsAmong 15,906 patients with respiratory viral infection, there were 8451 (53.1%) clinically suspected and 1,087 (6.8%) laboratory-confirmed viral-bacterial co-infection. Among all the bacterial species,

interpretationIn our cohort, bacterial co-infection is common in hospitalized patients with viral respiratory tract infection and is associated with higher ICU admission rate and mortality. Therefore, active surveillance for bacterial co-infection and early antibiotic treatment may be required to improve outcomes in patients with respiratory viral infection.

Indexed as

MortalityRespiratoryviral-bacterial co-infection

Identifiers

PMID34386745
PMCPMC8343259
OpenAlexW3171494258

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.