Predictors of in-hospital mortality in influenza infection

Background: Influenza infection can be fatal. Our goal was to identify predictors of in-hospital mortality in adults with influenza. Material and Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in adult patients with confirmed cases of influenza in our hospital between November 2016-March 2017 and October 2017-May 2018. In order to determine in-hospital mortality predictors we analysed the confirmed cases who needed hospitalization and divided them in a fatality group and a non-fatality group. Groups were compared regarding demographics, comorbidities, clinical and laboratorial admission data, influenza vaccination status and oseltamivir treatment. Data was gathered from individual medical records. A multivariate logistic regression model was built in order to determine independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. Variables considered in the model were those differently distributed between fatality and non-fatality groups. Results: There were 221 cases of influenza that needed hospitalization. Thirty-seven patients died in-hospital. Those in the fatality group were older (mean age 71 vs 66, p=0.04) and presented with higher blood urea (58 vs 46 mg/dL, p=0.02), higher C-reactive protein (CRP) (112.8 vs 64.8 mg/L, p Conclusions: Influenza was an important cause of mortality. The only predictor of in-hospital mortality was CRP.