Clinical observations among patients with Dengue Fever in Nepal

Abstract

Introduction: Dengue is an arthropod-borne viral illness that has become a serious public health threat in Nepal. The disease has been reported frequently during the post monsoon period in the southem lowlands of the country. Studies relating to sero-prevalence of dengue have been performed regularly in Nepal but the most frequent clinical observations among the patients with dengue fever have not been well documented. We report thrombocytopenia (74%), headache (44%) and myalgia (44%) among the febrile cases as the most frequent features of the 287 dengue cases identified by rapid immunochromatographic tests and ELISA during 2010 and 2011. These findings are potentially helpful for the clinicians to predict dengue in the early stage in those areas where dengue has been endemic, thus minimizing the significant morbidity and mortality of the disease.