Clinical definitions
Medical history and clinical characteristics were registered
in the hospital records of the patients on admission
by the medical doctors on duty. In 2006, one of the
authors (MD) collected data on over 20 items from
these records using a structured case record form,
including age, gender, fever on admission, respiratory
rate on admission, preceding and presenting clinical
signs and symptoms, and findings on physical examination.
“Tachypnoea” was defined by the World Health
Organization criteria, that are respiratory rate >60
breaths/minute in children aged 50
breaths/minute in children aged 2-12 months and >40
breaths/minute in children aged >12 months [14].
“Length of fever” was defined as the period in which a
patient became spontaneously (without the use of antipyretic)
and steadily non-feverish: the hours elapsed
from the time of CAP diagnosis to the time a body temperature
>37°C was last recorded. “Delayed recovery”
was defined as the combination of those patients with
fever for longer than 48 hours and/or those patients
who developed a complication, such as pleural empyema
or lung abscess [8].