A study of clinical profile of dengue fever in children

Abstract

Background: Dengue is a major international health concern and is a major health problem in India which constantly threatens the health care system. The objective of the present study was to study the clinical profile of dengue fever in children.Methods: Prospective and descriptive study was conducted on all the laboratory confirmed cases of dengue fever in children admitted at SIMS and RC over a period of 1 year from December 2015 to November 2016. Results: Among 568 children studied, majority of them were males 63.3% and in the age group of 10-18 years 39.4%. The most common symptoms noticed were fever 90.1% followed by myalgia 88.3%,decreased appetite 88.2%, retroorbital pain in 84.5%, vomiting 84.1% and the least common symptoms noticed were convulsions 0.8% and altered sensorium 1%. The most common signs were skin rash 65.4% and ascites 31.6% and least common sign was spleenomegaly 8.4%. The most common complications seen were hepatic dysfunction 30.6% followed by shock 18.6% and pleural effusion 15.8%. The least complication noticed was encephalitis 0.7%. Death was nil in our study.Conclusions: This study concludes male children in the age group of 10 - 18 years were more affected. The common symptoms observed were fever, myalgia, decreased appetite and headache and commonest signs were skin rash and ascites. The common complications presented were hepatic dysfunction and shock with no mortality indicating the presence of less virulent organisms.