An epidemiological prospective of focal outbreak of dengue infection in Kathmandu, Nepal

Abstract

Background In 2019, highest number of dengue cases ever were reported in Nepal. This article highlights an epidemiological prospective of dengue infection incidence in Swyambhu, Kathmandu.Methods Retrospective data of 563 dengue suspected patients was collected from Council of Community Health Services (CCHS) Swyambhu, Kathmandu and analyzed. All samples were tested for complete blood count and NS1 antigen and 32 samples (NS1 antigen negative) for anti-dengue IgM & IgG antibody.Results Out of 563 suspected patients, 370 (65.7%) were positive for dengue infection, 365 (n = 563) NS1 antigen positive and 5 (n = 32) anti-dengue IgM antibody positive while none were anti-dengue IgG positive. Among positive cases, ratio of female and male was 1:1. In ethnicity-wise distribution of positive cases, Newar was 60.1%, Tamang 15.0%, Chhetri 13.1% and Brahmin 10.3%. Symptoms like high grade fever (95.5%), nausea (74.0%), headache (44.0%) and gum and nose bleeding (2.9%) were recorded. Mean white blood cells count was 4059.11 cells/cumm, mean platelet count was 169,454.30 cells/cumm and mean hematocrit was 44.0%. Age groups 16–30 years and 31–45 years were statistically significant for nausea compared to other age groups. NS1 antigen positivity was statistically significant in the age groups from 16 to 60 years. Symptoms like retino-orbital pain, head-ache, nose/gum bleeding, petechaie formation was found statistically significant (p < 0.005).Conclusion Higher number of NS1 antigen positive cases indicates active dengue infection circulating in the community. There is need for preparedness to prevent massive outbreaks in future and perform extensive epidemiological studies.