The Prognostic Significance of Established Hematological Parameters and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Assessing Dengue Infection Severity and Progression among Patients Ages 5 to 14 in a Tertiary Government Hospital in Pampanga, Philippines

Abstract

Abstract Introduction/Objective Dengue virus (DENV) is an arthropod-borne virus which imposes a significant burden on the health system in most tropical and subtropical countries. In 2009, WHO classified Dengue into Dengue Without Warning Signs (DNWS), Dengue With Warning Signs (DWWS), and Severe Dengue (SD). This study aims to establish the prognostic value of predetermined hematological parameters and inflammatory biomarkers in assessing severity and progression of dengue infection among ages 5-14. Methods/Case Report A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the Complete Blood Count, Inflammation biomarkers, and severity of dengue patients (5-14 of age). The diagnosis must be serologically confirmed by a positive NS1/IgM. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) A total of 36 patients participated in the study, having 18 from each groups of DWWS and SD. The mean age of Dengue cohort was 13.9 years with 59% (19/36) being male. Laboratory findings reveal SD to have lower platelet count (<100.00x109/L) during day 1-3 (p<0.001). Low WBC count (<4.00x109/L), Relative Eosinophil (<2.00%), and Absolute Lymphocyte count (<1.52x109/L) were evident on days 1-3 among DWWS and SD cases (p=0.023; p=0.045; p=0.033). Low relative neutrophil (<0.45%) was a constant finding in both clinical types throughout disease progression. SD group had significantly higher Neutrophil to Lymphocyte ratio (NLR) values among SD cases on days 4-6 (p<0.001). In contrast, Platelet to Lymphocyte ratio (PLR) was significantly lower among DWWS cases on days 4-6 (p=0.020). Monocyte to Lymphocyte (MLR) ratio had poor discriminative power (p=0.560). Conclusion The findings highlight decreased platelet, WBC, relative eosinophil, and absolute lymphocyte count to be common among Dengue patients. NLR and PLR were found to be good predictors of dengue severity during the initial phase of infection. Evaluating these values may aid clinicians in early diagnosis of severe dengue. However, larger samples are needed to further validate the predictive values of these parameters.