Abstract Purpose Few studies in humans have revealed differences in the inflammatory responses between biological sexes when encountering serious infections. Our study aimed to investigate how those differences were presented among sexes and age groups from 30 days before (D–30) through 30 days after (D30) a bloodstream infection (BSI). Methods We did a retrospective population-based cohort study, including patients aged > 15 years with their first-time BSI between 2007 and 2016. Based on aggregated data, we computed daily mean levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and neutrophils in the D–30/D30 period, separately for females and males within the age groups 15–49 and ≥ 50 years. For each age group, we used adjusted multilevel mixed effects linear regression analyses to detect differences in daily mean levels between females and males. Results A total of 24,074 patients had 268,648 specimens with CRP and 138,482 with neutrophils. CRP and neutrophils peak values were significantly higher in females, reaching their highest values among the ≥ 50 years group. For all age groups, peak values occurred for CRP at D1 and for neutrophils at D0. Neutrophil values were more equal between the sexes, although higher levels were found in the ≥ 50 year age group among females after D–4. Conclusion Females and males with BSI exhibited different trajectories and different peak values close to the BSI episode, in particular in females in the ≥ 50-year age group. Severe infections, such as BSI, need further investigation regarding sex differences, stratified into age groups for expected female menopause.
Budtz et al. (Tue,) studied this question.