Mucocutaneous Manifestations in Patients with Dengue Fever: From the EPIDENGUE Cohort on Reunion Island

Acta Derm Venereol. 2024 Jul 18:104:adv40334. doi: 10.2340/actadv.v104.40334.

Abstract

Nearly 4 billion people live in a dengue risk area worldwide. The prevalence of dengue-related mucocutaneous manifestations and their association with severe dengue differ across studies. The aim of the study was to describe the characteristics of patients with dengue-related mucocutaneous manifestations and to investigate those were associated with severe dengue. A retrospective study was conducted in 2019 among patients with a positive RT-PCR for dengue at the University Hospital of Reunion, which has been experiencing a re-emergence of dengue since 2018. Of 847 patients with confirmed dengue, 283 (33.4%) developed mucocutaneous manifestations. Only manifestations of dehydration such as glossitis, dysgeusia, or conjunctivitis were associated with severe dengue, unlike pruritus and rash, in bivariate analysis but not in multivariate analysis. The rash and pruritus of dengue appear to be accompanied by a pronounced flu-like syndrome in younger people without comorbidity or severity, although careful examination of mucous membranes would better identify signs of dehydration and thus cases likely to worsen.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Child
  • Dehydration
  • Dengue* / complications
  • Dengue* / diagnosis
  • Dengue* / epidemiology
  • Dysgeusia / epidemiology
  • Dysgeusia / etiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prevalence
  • Pruritus / epidemiology
  • Pruritus / etiology
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Reunion / epidemiology
  • Risk Factors
  • Severe Dengue / complications
  • Severe Dengue / diagnosis
  • Severe Dengue / epidemiology
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

Funding sources This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the RUNDENG project No.20202640-0022937. The fund had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.