Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of the inpatients suffering from dengue fever in order to provide references for better diagnosis and treatment.
Methods: The clinical data of 158 dengue fever patients admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University from July 23rd to October 31st, 2014 during the 2014 epidemic in Guangzhou area were retrospectively analyzed, including general clinical manifestations, conventional examinations, pathogenesis, and prognosis.
Results: The mean age of the 158 patients was ( 56 ± 20 ) years, with half of them over 60 years old (79 cases). Among them, 94 (59.49%) were male. (1) The common manifestations included fever (100%), headache (70.89%), myalgia/bone soreness (62.03%), and skin rash (54.43%). Bleeding and plasma leakage were found in 25.95% and 14.56% of the patients respectively. (2) Laboratory examination: leucopenia (75.32%) and thrombocytopenia (77.85%) were found, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase ( AST ) were elevated in 57.59% and 77.85% of the patients respectively. However, elevation of blood hematocrit was rare (1.27% ). (3) It was found that in the acute phase (0 - 5 days of the onset), serum dengue virus antibody IgM (DF-IgM) was positive in 63.54% of the patients (61/96), and 92.62% (113/122) of patients were dengue virus RNA ( DENA-RNA ) positive. (4) The rate of comorbidity in this study was 55.06% ( 87/158 ), including hypertension (27.22%) and type 2 diabetes (15.82%), which were the two most common co-morbidities. (5) All the patients were given supportive therapy to prevent complications. They were also isolated for more than 5 days after onset, and at least for 24 hours after subsidence of fever in addition. (6) The criteria for the diagnosis of severe dengue were fulfilled in 18 patients (11.39%). One patient died of massive hemorrhage from gastro-intestinal tract, and 1 patient voluntarily left hospital with untreated multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Another 2 patients of dengue fever died from primary cardio-cerebrovascular disease, and the remaining 154 patients (97.47%) fully recovered with supportive therapy and complication prevention measures.
Conclusions: The clinical manifestations of inpatients with dengue fever in this study were typical, and they manifested a higher incidence of severe illness. DENA-RNA could be a sensitive indicator for early pathogenic diagnosis. With symptomatic and supportive therapy, most patients had a good outcome. However, early diagnosis and clinical interventions of severe dengue still need further studies.