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A Murine Model of Dengue Virus-induced Acute Viral Encephalitis-like Disease
Published on: April 28, 2019
Prevalence of dengue infection in north Indian children with acute hepatic failure
Rashmi Kumar1, Piyush Tripathi, Sanjeev Tripathi
1Department of Pediatrics, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University, Lucknow, India. rashmik2005@gmail.com
Insights
Dengue infection is a significant cause of acute hepatic failure (AHF) in children, identified in 18.5% of cases in this study. Further research is needed to differentiate clinical features of dengue-related AHF.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Hepatology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Hepatic manifestations of dengue viral infection are recognized.
- Acute hepatic failure (AHF) can be associated with dengue infection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of dengue infection in pediatric patients presenting with AHF.
- To determine the prevalence of dengue infection among children hospitalized with AHF.
Main Methods:
- A study was conducted in the pediatric wards of a teaching hospital in northern India.
- Consecutive children hospitalized with AHF were enrolled over a 3-month period.
- ELISA for dengue IgM and real-time PCR for the dengue genome were utilized for diagnosis.
Main Results:
- Out of 27 enrolled patients, 18.5% (5/27) had definite dengue infection confirmed by PCR.
- Thirteen patients were positive for dengue IgM.
- No significant differences in clinical or laboratory features were found between dengue and non-dengue AHF cases.
Conclusions:
- Dengue infection should be considered in the etiological diagnosis of AHF in this region.
- Further studies with larger patient cohorts are recommended to identify differentiating clinical and laboratory features of dengue-associated AHF.
Unlabelled:
Hepatic manifestations of dengue viral infection are well known and cases of acute hepatic failure (AHF) with evidence of dengue infection are reported.
Objectives:
To study the role of dengue infection in AHF presenting to hospital.
Setting:
Pediatric wards of a teaching hospital in northern India.
Subjects:
Consecutive children hospitalized with AHF over a 3 month period in 2006. Clinical and laboratory details of subjects were charted. ELISA tests for dengue IgM were done in all patients using commercial kits. Real time PCR assays for dengue genome were done in randomly chosen subjects from those testing positive and negative for IgM. A PCR positive case was considered as definite dengue infection, while those who were only IgM positive were considered as 'probable' dengue.
Results:
Between July and September 2006, 27 patients were enrolled. Thirteen were unequivocally positive for dengue IgM. A random sample of 7 IgM positive and 3 IgM negative patients was tested by PCR, of which 4 IgM positive and one IgM negative patients were PCR positive. Prevalence of definite dengue infection in AHF was therefore 5/27 or 18.5%. No significant differences were observed in clinical and laboratory features of dengue and nondengue aHF.
Conclusions:
Dengue infection should be considered in the etiology of AHF in this part of the world. Clinico-laboratory differentiating features of dengue AHF should be studied in a larger sample of patients.
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