Clinical Profiles of Dengue Fever Patients, During an Outbreak

Background: Dengue fever (DF) has become a major public health concern globally. It is an infection caused by a virus of the family Flaviviridae, with five serotypes (DENV 1 #x2013;5). Recent years have seen an increase in the preva #xAD;lence of the disease in Pakistan. The current study was carried out to evaluate the clinical features, laboratory find #xAD;ings and demographic information of the patients reported during the dengue outbreak in Multan of Pakistan in 2015. #xD; Methods: The hospital documentationbased data of confirmed DF cases were collected for the 6 months period from a Tertiary Care Hospital in Multan, Pakistan. The patients were labeled as confirmed on the basis of NS1 and IgM positivity by ELISA. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS. Results: Overall, 361 patients were investigated (78.67% males and 21.33% females), with maximum infection rate in the age group of 18 #x2013;35yr (50.41%). Mean hospital stay was 2.64d (SD 1.2), while mean fever duration was 5.27 (SD 1.57). Outbreak occurred during the months from Jul #x2013;Dec, while maximum patients were reported in Oct (287). No mortality was reported, and all patients recovered. Conclusion: Better management practices and timely reporting can reduce the risk factors associated with the dis #xAD;ease.