Clinical and upper gastroendoscopic features of patients with dengue virus infection

Clinical observation was made on 238 dengue fever cases during an epidemic in Taiwan from September to November 1988. Dengue virus infection type 1 was responsible for all cases. The majority of patients had acute onset of fever with abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and vomiting. Gastrointestinal haemorrhage with manifestation of haematemesis and/or melena was observed in 28 (11.8%) of our patients. The clinical gastrointestinal features in patients with a peptic ulcer history were not different from those in patients without it. There was no significant difference in incidence of gastrointestinal manifestations between premedication and non-premedication patients. Sixty-six non-premedication patients in our series were examined by gastroduodenoscopy. Haemorrhagic gastritis was the most common finding in 27 (40.9%) patients. The incidence of gastric and/or duodenal ulcerations was higher in patients with a peptic ulcer history compared with those without it (P less than 0.01). However, the incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding was similar between these two groups (19.2% vs 9.8%). Thrombocytopenia in patients with gastrointestinal haemorrhage was more prominent than in those without it (P less than 0.005). This implied that thrombocytopenia might be one of the predisposing factors for gastrointestinal haemorrhage.