A study of 40 cases from Delhi

Dengue illness appears similar to other febrile illnesses in its early stages, which means its diagnosis is often delayed or confused with other illnesses. To address this issue, we analysed the haemogram profile of 40 patients (>12 years) hospitalized with DHF in Delhi from 19 September to 12 November 2008 to predict outbreaks and severity levels of the disease. Such studies could prove useful in disease management, diagnosing dengue and predicting the likelihood of haemorrhaging. All the patients were diagnosed, managed and monitored according to a standard protocol. Of the 40 patients who fulfilled the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria of DHF, 30 (75%) were male. All patients presented with fever and IgM dengue serology was positive in 100 % cases. The haemogram profile shows that the lymphocyte level is a highly deviated parameter whereas the red blood corpuscles (RBC) count and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) are the least deviated parameters after performing standard deviation tests