The clinical characteristics and outcome of children hospitalized with dengue in Barbados, an English Caribbean country

Introduction: Although dengue is endemic in all English-speaking Caribbean countries, there are no published studies on the clinical presentations and outcomes of children hospitalized with dengue from this region. This study aims to assess the clinical charcteristics and the outcome in children hos...

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Main Authors: Alok Kumar, Marquita Gittens-St. Hilair, Vincent Jason, Christian Ugwuagu, Kandamaran Krishnamurthy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2015-04-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
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Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/5566
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author Alok Kumar
Marquita Gittens-St. Hilair
Vincent Jason
Christian Ugwuagu
Kandamaran Krishnamurthy
author_facet Alok Kumar
Marquita Gittens-St. Hilair
Vincent Jason
Christian Ugwuagu
Kandamaran Krishnamurthy
author_sort Alok Kumar
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Although dengue is endemic in all English-speaking Caribbean countries, there are no published studies on the clinical presentations and outcomes of children hospitalized with dengue from this region. This study aims to assess the clinical charcteristics and the outcome in children hospitalized with dengue. Methods: This was a population-based prospective study of all the children hospitalized with confirmed dengue in 2009 in Barbados. All children suspected to have dengue were routinely screened for dengue infection and underwent routine blood tests. Relevant data was extracted from their case files at the time of their discharge from the hospital. Results: Of the 199 children who were hospitalized with suspected dengue, 115 (58%) were confirmed. The overall incidence rate of  dengue among children that required hospitalization was 2.1/1,000 children. Besides the typical clinical features of dengue, 64 children hospitalized with confirmed dengue also presented with gastrointestinal manifestations (56%), 39 with respiratory manifestations (51%), 11 with hepatic manifestations (10%), 8 with neurologic manifestations (7%), and 7 with cardiovascular manifestations (6%). Twenty (17.4%) children hospitalized with confirmed dengue met the criteria for the diagnosis of severe dengue. The other 82.6% had uncomplicated or non-severe (53.9% had dengue and 28.7% had dengue with warning signs) forms of dengue. The case fatality rate in this series was 1.7%. Conclusions: Less than a third of all the children with confirmed dengue required hospitalization. Atypical clinical manifestations were common, and only a minority of these children had severe dengue. Overall, the case fatality rate for dengue in this select population of children hospitalized with dengue was low.
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spelling doaj-art-2737a04bc34747b2aa80454652e998972025-08-20T02:57:01ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802015-04-0190410.3855/jidc.5566The clinical characteristics and outcome of children hospitalized with dengue in Barbados, an English Caribbean countryAlok Kumar0Marquita Gittens-St. Hilair1Vincent Jason2Christian Ugwuagu3Kandamaran Krishnamurthy4Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies (Cave Hill Campus) and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados (West Indies)Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies (Cave Hill Campus) and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados (West Indies)Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies (Cave Hill Campus) and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados (West Indies)Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies (Cave Hill Campus) and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados (West Indies)Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies (Cave Hill Campus) and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados (West Indies)Introduction: Although dengue is endemic in all English-speaking Caribbean countries, there are no published studies on the clinical presentations and outcomes of children hospitalized with dengue from this region. This study aims to assess the clinical charcteristics and the outcome in children hospitalized with dengue. Methods: This was a population-based prospective study of all the children hospitalized with confirmed dengue in 2009 in Barbados. All children suspected to have dengue were routinely screened for dengue infection and underwent routine blood tests. Relevant data was extracted from their case files at the time of their discharge from the hospital. Results: Of the 199 children who were hospitalized with suspected dengue, 115 (58%) were confirmed. The overall incidence rate of  dengue among children that required hospitalization was 2.1/1,000 children. Besides the typical clinical features of dengue, 64 children hospitalized with confirmed dengue also presented with gastrointestinal manifestations (56%), 39 with respiratory manifestations (51%), 11 with hepatic manifestations (10%), 8 with neurologic manifestations (7%), and 7 with cardiovascular manifestations (6%). Twenty (17.4%) children hospitalized with confirmed dengue met the criteria for the diagnosis of severe dengue. The other 82.6% had uncomplicated or non-severe (53.9% had dengue and 28.7% had dengue with warning signs) forms of dengue. The case fatality rate in this series was 1.7%. Conclusions: Less than a third of all the children with confirmed dengue required hospitalization. Atypical clinical manifestations were common, and only a minority of these children had severe dengue. Overall, the case fatality rate for dengue in this select population of children hospitalized with dengue was low. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/5566Dengueclinical featureshospitalizationchildrenCaribbean
spellingShingle Alok Kumar
Marquita Gittens-St. Hilair
Vincent Jason
Christian Ugwuagu
Kandamaran Krishnamurthy
The clinical characteristics and outcome of children hospitalized with dengue in Barbados, an English Caribbean country
Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
Dengue
clinical features
hospitalization
children
Caribbean
title The clinical characteristics and outcome of children hospitalized with dengue in Barbados, an English Caribbean country
title_full The clinical characteristics and outcome of children hospitalized with dengue in Barbados, an English Caribbean country
title_fullStr The clinical characteristics and outcome of children hospitalized with dengue in Barbados, an English Caribbean country
title_full_unstemmed The clinical characteristics and outcome of children hospitalized with dengue in Barbados, an English Caribbean country
title_short The clinical characteristics and outcome of children hospitalized with dengue in Barbados, an English Caribbean country
title_sort clinical characteristics and outcome of children hospitalized with dengue in barbados an english caribbean country
topic Dengue
clinical features
hospitalization
children
Caribbean
url https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/5566
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