Clinical markers associated with acute laboratory-confirmed Dengue infection: results of a national epidemiological surveillance system

Risk factors associated with severe dengue in Latin America: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Severe dengue is a significant health problem in Latin America, with children being the most affected. Understanding risk factors for severe dengue is crucial for enhancing patient care. Therefore, this study aims to systematically review the literature to identify the risk factors associated with severe dengue in Latin America through systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS

PubMed, SciELO, LILACS and EMBASE databases were used to search for eligible scientific articles for the review. The outcomes considered were symptoms of severe dengue, hospitalisation and death. The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist was used to assess the quality of the studies. Data analysis was performed using STATA v 13.0 software. The degree of heterogeneity between studies was quantified using the I2 measure, and statistically significant results were defined as those with p values <0.05.

RESULTS

Of the 1876 articles screened, 47 articles were included in the systematic review and 45 articles were analysed through meta-analysis. Identified risk factors associated with severe dengue included secondary dengue infection, female sex, white or Caucasian ethnicity and specific signs and symptoms such as headache, myalgia and/or arthralgia, vomiting/nausea, abdominal pain or tenderness, diarrhoea, prostration, lethargy, fatigue or similar. For the death outcome, respiratory symptoms and age <18 years were identified as risk factors. On the other hand, in women, the diagnosis of positive tourniquet test, platelet count <100,000 per μL and symptoms of capillary fragility were associated with a lower probability of death. These data highlight the importance of early screening of patients, to identify possible haemorrhagic signs and reduce deaths from dengue. This study has limitations, including possible publication bias, heterogeneity of results and study design biases.

CONCLUSION

These findings are significant for shaping strategies, management approaches and identifying high-risk groups, which will help establish future guidelines.

[Dengue during pregnancy, less incidence of thrombocytopenia than in general population]

OBJECTIVE

Dengue is a generally self-limited viral disease, considered a public health problem in Mexico. It can be accompanied by laboratory alterations such as neutropenia, lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia. The objective of the study was to evaluate the incidence of hematological alterations in patients with dengue.

METHODS

We retrospectively included 64 patients, including 14 pregnant women, with a diagnosis of dengue at the Hospital Universitario de Monterrey and Civil Nuevo de Guadalajara from January 2014 to December 2017.

RESULTS

The most common clinical symptom in the general group was headache and retro-ocular pain in 53 patients (83%), while in pregnant patients it was fever in 12 patients (86%). The median platelet count in the general group was 51.4x103/ μ!, with thrombocytopenia in 88% of patients, while in pregnant patients it was 141.1 x103/ with thrombocytopenia in 57% of patients (p=0.002). Platelet recovery was achieved in 7 days in the general group and 4.5 days in pregnant patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Contrary to that reported in the literature, pregnant patients had a lower incidence of thrombocytopenia and a higher platelet count at time of diagnosis without impact on maternal mortality or in the course of pregnancy.

Evaluating the validity of dengue clinical-epidemiological criteria for diagnosis in patients residing in a Brazilian endemic area

BACKGROUND

We evaluated the validity of clinical diagnosis compared with laboratory diagnosis of dengue in a retrospective sample of patients in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil.

METHODS

Our sample included 148 299 clinically (56.3%) or laboratory-diagnosed (43.7%) dengue cases. We compared the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value (PPV and NPV) of dengue patients' demographic and clinical characteristics with laboratory-based diagnosis. We used logistic regressions to estimate the correlation between clinical and laboratory diagnosis of dengue and a full set of dengue signs and symptoms.

RESULTS

We found substantial variability in sensitivity and specificity of signs and symptoms ranging from 0.8-81.1 and 21.5-99.6, respectively. Thrombocytopenia exhibited the highest PPV (92.0) and lowest NPV (42.2) and was the only symptom showing agreement with laboratory-confirmed dengue (φ = 0.38). The presence of exanthema and thrombocytopenia led to a greater likelihood of concordant clinical and laboratory diagnoses (exanthema: OR: 4.23; 95% CI: 2.09 to 8.57; thrombocytopenia: OR: 4.02; 95% CI: 1.32 to 12.27).

CONCLUSIONS

We found substantial variation in sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of dengue signs and symptoms. For accuracy, clinical and laboratory diagnosis of dengue should be performed concurrently. When laboratory tests are not available, we suggest focusing on the clinical manifestations most associated with dengue.