Presentation and Outcome of Dengue Epidemic in South India

Abstract

Background: There was a huge epidemic of Dengue Fever (DF) during 2009 in South India.. Thousands of cases of dengue reported to various hospitals during this epidemic. This study was undertaken to evaluate various types of presentations of DF in the region. Objective: To study the clinical presentation and outcome of DF in South India. Method: A retrospective record based study was performed on 500 records of DF cases in a tertiary care hospital in a rural setting. The case records were selected by simple random sampling from Oct. to Dec. 2009. Results: Out of 500 cases majority were males 315(63%) and in the age group of 16 - 30 years. Most common form of infection was DF in 333(66.6%), DF with thrombocytopenia 153(30.6%), Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) in nine (1.8%) and Dengue Shock Syndrome in eight (1.6%) cases. The serological test was done among 399(64.8%) patients and 324 (81.20%) were sero-positive. Most common bleeding manifestations were malena, haematuria and gingival bleeding. Total 463(92.6%) got cured, two males (0.4%) had fatal out come and others were referred to other centers. Conclusion: The Dengue epidemic was of mild form with common presentations and very few deaths.