Soluble T cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing protein 3 in children hospitalized with pneumonia in resource-limited settings.

In a prospective cohort study of 77 children with severe pneumonia from two hospitals in Uganda, we assessed soluble T cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing protein 3 (sTIM-3) levels at hospital admission and their association with pneumonia severity and subsequent mortality. sTIM-3 levels were positively correlated with the Respiratory Index of Severity in Children (RISC) (ρ = 0.35, p = 0.0017), sTIM-3 levels were higher in children who required transfer to a tertiary hospital (p = 0.014) and in fatal cases (p = 0.011). In summary, sTIM-3 is associated with disease severity and predictive of mortality in childhood pneumonia in resource-limited settings.