The correlation of clinical and subclinical presentations with dengue serotypes and plasma viral load: the case of children with dengue hemorrhagic fever in Vietnam

Abstract

Numerous studies have been carried out on patients afflicted with dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), but various issues related to the disease, including the characteristics of the dengue virus (DENV), remain unclear. To address this deficiency, the current research was conducted to determine the correlation of clinical and subclinical presentations with dengue serotypes and plasma viral load. This prospective cohort study, which was performed at Tien Giang General Hospital from 2009 to 2014, involved 481 children who were under 15 years of age and had DHF for less than 72 hours. Results showed that among the patients, the highest proportion were composed of those suffering from DENV-1 infection (44.7%). The progression of the disease to dengue shock syndrome (DSS) owing to infection with DENV-2 and DENV-1 was significantly higher than that caused by infection with DENV-3 and DENV-4. No statistically significant differences in DENV viremia were found between the non-shock DHF and DSS groups. Finally, no correlation was found between dengue plasma viral load and clinical and subclinical presentations. The findings led to the conclusion that dengue serotypes can be used as a basis in ascertaining the prognosis of DSS and DHF.