Title: A Study of Current Outbreak of Dengue Fever in Children

Authors: Tamil Selvan, Pawan Kumar.S, Giridhar, Narayana Swamy, Mahesh Kumar

 DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v3i8.19

DIDS : 08.2015-46187749

Abstract

Background: Dengue is a major international health concern that is prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical countries. The Objective of the present study is to study the clinical profile of dengue fever in children because of lack of such research among children.

Material and methods: Prospective study was conducted on all the laboratory confirmed cases of dengue fever during the outbreak of dengue fever from May 2015 to July 2015 among 300 children admitted to 4 major hospitals in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Results: Among 300 patients studied, majority of them were males (56.6%) and in the age group of 6-10 years (36%). The most common symptoms were fever (97.3%) followed by headache( 86.6%) myalgia (86.6%),decreased appetite (83%), retroorbital pain (67.7%), abdominal pain (66.6%) and vomiting (64.3%). The most common signs were skin rash (57.3%) and hepatomegaly (14.3%). The most common complications seen were hepatic dysfunction (11%) followed by pleural effusion (3.6%) and shock (2.3%).Mortality was nil in our study.

Conclusion: Clinical profile resembles with other studies but with low severity and most common complication being hepatic dysfunction. Community awareness, early diagnosis and management and vector control measures and vaccination need to be strengthened in order to reduce the increasing number of dengue cases.

Keywords: Dengue fever, complications, hepatic dysfunction, shock, skin rash

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Corresponding Author

Tamil Selvan

Department of Paediatrics

Sri Lakshmi Multispeciality Hospital, Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Mallige Hospital,

Maruti Hospital, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

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