Dengue fever

Assessment of dengue virus threat to blood safety and community health: A single center study in northern Egypt

BACKGROUND

The risk of transfusion transmitted dengue (DENV) is increasingly recognized and poses a risk to blood safety as well as spreading into non-immune communities.

OBJECTIVES

To determine dengue serological profile, environmental risk, knowledge, and preventive measures among blood donors in a national blood bank in northern Egypt.

METHODS

A total of 500 blood donors were enrolled into this study between June and September 2018. Socio-demographic and medical data were collected using a predesigned questionnaire. Blood samples were screened for anti-DENV IgM, anti-DENV IgG and non-structural protein 1 antigen (DENV-NS1 antigen).

RESULTS

History of past dengue exposure was identified in 10.2% of blood donors. No samples (0.0%) tested positive for anti-DENV IgG, IgM or NS1 antigen. At the time of blood donation, no individuals had any symptoms suggestive of a dengue-related illness. Dengue exposure strongly correlated with travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Sudan and the El-Quseir outbreak area in Egypt. Knowledge of dengue and prevention methods was found to be substantially deficient, and the relatively higher level of knowledge among exposed donors did not translate into appropriate preventative measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Our risk assessment shows the impact of travel on DENV exposure and highlights its potential threat to disease spread in Egypt. Dengue awareness programs are urgently needed for effective prevention of transmission.

Relative frequency of acute pancreatitis from dengue outbreaks as a late complication, in Egypt

Patients with dengue virus infection have a different symptoms range from asymptomatic to sever form depending on primary and secondary immune status of host, infecting genotype and patient's age. The current study aimed to describe the clinical and laboratory profile of dengue fever outbreak and acute pancreatitis as a late complication, in Egypt, as two case reports only were available in literature regarding this issue. This prospective cohort study was carried out on 100 patients confirmed to have dengue disease out of 200 clinically suspected patients. Clinical, laboratory (serology for dengue specific IgM, real-time PCR for dengue virus, serum amylase and lipase) and abdominal multi-slice CT were done to all included patients. All patients presented with fever, headache and fatigue, which are the main clinical manifestations of dengue fever. The mean age of studied patients was 40.34 ± 15.74 years. Thirteen patients (13%), with their mean age 44.57 ± 11.53, presented after 3 months with typical clinical, laboratory and radiological manifestations of acute pancreatitis with positive serum dengue virus IgM, antibodies and negative serum dengue virus PCR. So, acute pancreatitis as a late complication of dengue fever disease should be keep in mind for its early diagnosis and management, thus minimize the morbidity and mortality from dengue fever.