Objective: To design bundle treatment plan in the early stage for severe human infection by avian influenza H7N9, and explore its clinical efficacy and application value.
Methods: Fifteen patients with severe human infection by avian influenza H7N9 in Guizhou Province from December 29th, 2016 to June 7th, 2017 were enrolled. Patients admitted from March 6th, 2017 to June 7th, 2017 served as a prospective observation period (bundle treatment group), and those from December 29th, 2016 to March 5th, 2017 were selected as a historical control period (conventional treatment group). Conventional treatment group was given conventional treatment such as isolation, anti-virus, symptomatic treatment, and traditional Chinese medicine and so on. Bundle treatment group was given bundle treatment on the basis of conventional treatment, including isolation, anti-virus, respiratory support, restrictive fluid management, immunotherapy, inhibition of inflammation, antibiotic therapy, nutritional support, prevention of hospital acquired infection (HAP), individual sedation, continuous blood purification (CBP) for acute kidney injury (AKI) and severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients, and intensive care. A cluster of bundle treatment team was set up to ensure that all measures carried out smoothly. The gender, age, onset to diagnosis time, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score, oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2) at admission, the length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, total hospitalization time and prognosis of the two groups were observed. Correlation analysis between bundle therapy and prognosis was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn, and the clinical value of bundle treatment was analyzed.
Results: There was no significant difference in gender, age, onset to diagnosis time, APACHE II score, PaO2/FiO2, the length of ICU stay, or total hospitalization time between bundle treatment group (n = 9) and conventional treatment group (n = 6), but the death patients in the bundle treatment group was significantly fewer than those in conventional treatment group (cases: 2 vs. 5, χ2 = 3.225, P = 0.041). Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between the mortality and whether received bundle treatment or not in patients who infected by avian influenza H7N9 (r = -0.875, P = 0.018). ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of non-bundle treatment for predicting the death in patients with severe human infection by avian influenza H7N9 was 0.938, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 0.795-1.000, the sensitivity was 88.88%, and the specificity was 98.62%.
Conclusions: Early bundle therapy has a significant effect on severe human infection by avian influenza H7N9, which can improve the prognosis and reduce the mortality of patients. It is worthy for clinical application.