Meningitis Research Foundation

Table 1: Median times of onset of clinical features of meningococcal disease prior to hospital admission.

Hours from onset	Age < 1 year		Age 1 - 4 years		Age 5 - 14 years		Age 15 - 16 years
Hours from onset		Median (IQR)*		Median (IQR)		Median (IQR)		Median (IQR)
0 - 4	Fever Miserable/irritable Poor feeding Nausea/vomiting Coryza Drowsy	0 (0, 6) 0 (0, 7) 1 (0, 9) 1 (0, 11) 2 (0, 13) 4 (0, 14)	Fever Miserable/irritable Nausea/vomiting Decreased appetite Drowsy	0 (0, 3) 2 (0, 10) 3 (0, 11) 3 (0, 13) 4 (0, 11)	Headache Nausea/vomiting Fever	0 (0, 12) 2 (0, 12) 3 (0, 13)	Headache Sore throat/coryza Thirst	0 (0, 2) 0 (0, 9) 4 (1, 39)
5 - 8	Diarrhoea Abnormal colour Breathing difficulty Leg pain Floppy tone Rash	5 (0, 9) 5 (0, 18) 5 (0, 19) 7 (0, 15) 8 (1, 19) 8 (4, 18)	Leg pain Headache Sore throat/coryza Breathing difficulty	6 (0, 13) 6 (1, 17) 7 (1, 19) 7 (1, 17)	Abnormal colour Decreased appetite Thirst Sore throat/coryza Leg pain General aches	5 (0, 29) 6 (1, 17) 6 (2, 16) 7 (0, 16) 7 (0, 15) 7 (1, 18)	General aches Fever	6 (0, 20) 6 (1, 16)
9-12	Cold extremities General aches	9 (1, 20) 9 (4, 22)	Abnormal colour General aches Rash General aches Seizure Diarrhoea	9 (3, 18) 9 (4, 18) 9 (6, 18) 9 (4, 18) 9 (1, 18) 10 (6, 14)	Drowsy Miserable/irritable Confusion/delirium	9 (1, 21) 12 (2, 22) 12 (8, 24)	Decreased appetite Nausea/vomiting Leg pain Miserable/irritable	9 (3, 21) 10 (3, 19) 12 (5, 23) 12 (3, 25)
9-12	Cold extremities General aches	9 (1, 20) 9 (4, 22)	Cold extremities Confusion/delirium Neck stiffness Photophobia	11 (2, 17) 11 (5, 17) 11 (8, 17) 12 (6, 27)	Drowsy Miserable/irritable Confusion/delirium	9 (1, 21) 12 (2, 22) 12 (8, 24)		9 (3, 21) 10 (3, 19) 12 (5, 23) 12 (3, 25)
13-16	Photophobia Unconscious Bulging fontanelle Neck stiffness Seizure	13 (5, 17) 15 (6, 17) 15 (3, 20) 15 (2, 27) 16 (14, 31)	Floppy	13 (8, 20)	Cold extremities Rash Neck stiffness	13 (7, 26) 14 (8, 21) 15 (6, 25)	Drowsy Breathing difficulty Diarrhoea Neck stiffness Cold extremities	14 (6, 27) 15 (13, 17) 16 (8, 26) 16 (6, 30) 16 (6, 32)
17-20	Thirst	17 (7, 27)			Photophobia	17 (5, 39)	Photophobia Abnormal colour Rash	17 (5, 29) 18 (4, 29) 19 (11, 26)
21-24			Unconscious	23 (17-42)	Diarrhoea Seizure	22 (20, 25) 24 (9, 79)	Confusion/delirium Unconscious	23 (13, 30) 24 (19, 41)
>24					Breathing difficulty Unconscious	34 (10, 57) 34 (11, 52)	Seizure	26 (25, 27)

Notes: * IQR = inter-quartile range.