| Undiagnosed ARill | | Self-reported symptoms of ARill only Self-reported symptoms combined with an algorithm at least partially validated for ARill Self-reported symptoms of an ARill reviewed by a physician, but without clinical or laboratory evaluation Clinical diagnosis of an ARill by a physician, based on history and clinical examination
| General symptoms of an ARill where the pathology could not be attributed specifically to an infection ARill studies could include illnesses that are due to either infective or non-infective causes but were not specified in the study design
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| ARinf | Suspected acute respiratory tract infection (ARinf) | Self-reported symptoms combined with an algorithm at least partially validated for ARinf Self-reported symptoms of an ARinf reviewed by a physician, but without clinical or laboratory evaluation Clinical diagnosis of an ARinf by a physician, based on history and clinical examination
| General symptoms and/or physical signs suggestive of an ARinf, but where the pathology of an infection was not confirmed The validated questionnaires that were used including the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey-21,93 the Jackson Cold Scale,94 or other questionnaires in which the severity of the symptoms were scored to provide a quantitative assessment,35 95
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| Confirmed ARinf | Clinical diagnosis of ARinf by a physician and confirmed by laboratory investigation to identify a specific pathogen as follows: PCR testing on specimen(s), culture of an organism from specimen(s), or serology (eg, rise in antibody titres)
| In some cases, a diagnosis of an ARinf caused by a specific pathogen can also be regarded as confirmed when diagnostic clinical features with a high sensitivity and specificity are present in suspected cases In such case there is also a high pretest probability of an ARinf (eg, a history and typical rash in an athlete where there is a confirmed viral outbreak in a travelling team or during an epidemic/pandemic)
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