Moreover, the inclusion of adults who had already received up to seven days of anti-tuberculosis therapy before baseline sampling may have attenuated or distorted admission CRP and albumin levels, as these markers can change rapidly with treatment and fluid balance; we were underpowered to perform robust stratified analyses by treatment duration, and this potential confounding should be considered when interpreting the inflammatory and nutritional gradients. The gene discussed is ALB; the disease is tuberculosis.