Table 1

Characteristics of children with community-acquired pneumonia (cases) and healthy children (controls), Perth, Western Australia, May 2015–October 2017

ParameterCase (%), (n=230)Control (%), (n=230)Total (%), (N=460)
Demographic and clinical data
 Age
  ≤12 months21 (9.1)23 (10)44 (9.5)
  1–5 years126 (54.7)157 (68.2)283 (61.5)
  6–9 years60 (26.1)27 (11.7)87 (18.9)
  10+ years23 (10)23 (10)46 (10)
 Male sex120 (52.1)122 (53.0)242 (52.6)
 Aboriginal*21 (9.1)2 (0.8)23 (5.0)
 Premature*32 (13.9)17 (7.3)49 (10.6)
 Smoker at household*38 (16.5)22 (9.5)60 (13.0)
Existing health conditions†
 Any comorbidity34 (14.7)10 (4.3)44 (9.5)
  Immunodeficiency7 (3.0)1 (0.4)8 (1.7)
  Immunocompromised condition5 (2.1)0 (0.0)5 (1.1)
  Congenital chromosomal abnormality16 (6.9)4 (1.7)20 (4.3)
  Chronic respiratory illness9 (3.9)2 (0.8)11 (2.3)
  Chronic neuromuscular disorder illness9 (3.9)2 (0.8)11 (2.3)
  • *P value <0.001 for difference between cases and controls.

  • †No child had an organ transplant, one case had chronic cardiac disease and one case had an intracranial shunt.