Publication:

Clinical profile of dengue among children in Bangladesh: observation from a single pediatric hospital

Background To delineate the predominant clinical features of dengue infection among children in Bangladesh.

Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study was in Dhaka Shishu hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. All children of age <18 years admitted with suspected dengue infection starting from July 2019 till September 2019 were enrolled in this study. Demographic variables, presenting complaints and examination findings were recorded on a standard questionnaire. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 27.

Results A total of 584 children were included in the study, of which 345 (59.1%) were male. Children ranged from age 1 month to 18 years with a mean of 5.6±4 years. Most of the children did not go to school or were less than 5 years of age 532 (91.1%). All the children presented with either high- or low-grade fever, and around half of them complained of vomiting. Notable symptoms among the children were abdominal pain in 20% cases, dehydration, and flu-like symptoms (cough and cold) in 10% of cases. Dengue warning signs were noted in 161 cases (27.6%), and vomiting was present in 43.7% of cases. Anaemia, respiratory distress, and pleural effusion were rarely noticed among the studied patients. Laboratory investigation of the dengue patients revealed that NS1 antigen was positive in 49 cases (8.4%). Haemoglobin was low in one-third of the cases, and leukopenia and thrombocytopenia were present in 23.5% and 38.7% cases, respectively. Among the dengue patients, around 12% (n=71) were infants.

Conclusions This descriptive study identifies that vomiting, abdominal pain, and dengue warning signs are the predominant clinical features of dengue infection among children in Bangladesh. Comparison with earlier studies reveals that clinical and laboratory features of dengue might vary by age, severity and region.