A RETROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY ON THE CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF DENGUE FEVER IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL, PALAKKAD

ABSTRACT Dengue is the most common mosquito-borne viral disease of humans that in recent years has become a major international public health concern. The principal vector is the day biting Aedes aegypti, which typically breeds in clean stagnant water in a wide variety of sites, including man-made containers in domestic and per domestic urban areas. Methodology: The study is to analyse the clinical manifestation and complication of dengue fever from the medical record department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. This is a retrospective observational study conducted at the medical record department in Karuna medical college hospital Chittur, Palakkad during a period of 6 months from November 2018-April 2019. Result: Among the 350 dengue serology positive cases, 156 (44.5%) had DF with no warning signs, 110 (31.4%) had DFWS, and 84 (24%) had SD. Out of this, 196(56%) were male patients and 154(44%) were female patients. Male patients were more enrolled in the study. Most of the patients were under the age group of 20-39 years (52%) followed by 40-59years (36.2) and 1-19(11.7%). Fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, myalgia and rash continue to be the common presentation. The most common complications encountered in this were thrombocytopenia and leucopenia. The haematological parameters such as WBC, HCT, Hb and Platelet count can be used as markers to assess the severity of dengue illness and thus initiating appropriate therapy. Conclusion: Clinical and laboratory parameters of acute febrile illness in children can act as early prognosticators of dengue fever and its severity. KEYWORDS: Dengue fever, Thrombocytopenia, Leukopenia, warning signs, Raised hematocrit