Clinico-epidemiological profile of children hospitalized with dengue.

OBJECTIVE

To study the clinico-epidemiological profile of children hospitalized with dengue illness.

METHODS

Prospective study of children hospitalized with the diagnosis of dengue illness during from September through November 2006 at a tertiary care centre in Jaipur.

RESULTS

A total of 948 children including 671 (70.8%) boys and 277 (29.2%) girls were diagnosed to have dengue illness during the outbreak. Two third of children were from urban areas while 6-12 years was the most commonly affected age group (45.8%). 58.3% cases had dengue fever (DF) while 41.7% had DHF (dengue hemorrhagic fever). Dengue fever with bleed (DFB) accounted for 32% of cases. Common constitutional symptoms were vomiting (35.2%), pain abdomen (22.1%) and myalgia (10.1%). Bleeding manifestations were observed in 44.5% of cases.. Positive tourniquet test was the most common manifestation which was seen in 300 cases (31.6%) while in 9.2% cases bleeding was the only manifestation. Epistaxis (25%) was the most common spontaneous bleeding manifestation. Thrombocytopenia was documented in 84% of total cases and bleeding occurred more often in patients with severe thrombocytopenia. Ten children expired with a case fatality rate of 1.1%.

CONCLUSIONS

Children between 6 and 12 yrs were most affected by dengue with larger number of cases from urban areas. DFB cases accounted for almost one third cases of dengue. Epistaxis was the most common spontaneous bleeding manifestation. Bleeding occurs more often in patients with severe thrombocytopenia.