Clinical and laboratory profile of dengue fever in hospitalized children among South Indian population

Abstract

Background: Dengue fever is currently regarded globally as one of the most important mosquito-borne viral diseases. Children suffering from dengue fever shows a large variation in clinical features and laboratory parameters. This study was focused to evaluate the clinical presentation, associated laboratory and radiological profiles that may be useful to diagnose dengue fever.Methods: Prospective observational study including 500 children with serological positive dengue fever admitted in a tertiary care hospital in South India.Results: In this study mean age of presentation of children with dengue fever was 8.4±1.2 years with male predominance. The incidence of children presenting with DF, DHF and DSS was 61%, 23% and 16% respectively. The most common symptom was fever in 100% patients followed by vomiting in 69%, abdominal pain in 64.2%, bleeding manifestations in 43% and periorbital pain in 28.8% of patients. The NS1 was positive in 39.2% cases, dengue IgM in 29% of cases and IgG positive in 30.4% cases. By ultrasonography it was observed that 34% of patients had ascites, 28% with pericholecystic edema, 12% with bilateral pleural effusion, 10% with right sided Pleural effusion and hepatomegaly and 5% with splenomegaly. The most common cause of death was cardiorespiratory arrest secondary to DIC.Conclusions: Detection of Ns1 antigen to diagnose dengue is proposed to be superior when compared to antibodies detection. It is also concluded that diagnosis of dengue should be made comprehensively by clinical examination with supporting laboratory and radiological investigations.