Clinical profile and early severity predictors of dengue fever: Current trends for the deadliest dengue infection in Bangladesh in 2022

OBJECTIVES: In 2022, Bangladesh had the highest dengue-related fatality (281). This study evaluated clinical profiles to detect early changes to predict dengue fever severity. METHODS: This prospective observational study was performed in four government hospitals from June to November 2022 in Dhaka. Febrile patients admitted within 4(th) day of illness were recruited if they had a confirmed dengue viral infection either by by positive dengue nonstructural protein antigen or anti-dengue immunoglobulin (Ig)M antibody. RESULTS: We divided 308 patients with confirmed dengue into two groups: 232 (74.3%) in nonsevere dengue and 76 (24.7%) in severe dengue. Men were 205 (66.6%), and the most affected age group was 21-30 years (47.7%). Patients with severe dengue reported a higher number of nausea 80.3%, coughs 57.9%, abdominal pain 56.6%, persistent vomitting 53.9%, dyspnea 35.5%, diarrhea 28.9%, and skin rash at 27.6%. In addition, the disease's febrile phase (≤4 days) showed thrombocytopenia (odds ratio [OR] 6.409, 95% CI 2.855-14.386, p <0.001), hemoconcentration (OR 3.428, 95% CI 1.030-11.405, p 0.045), and hypotension (OR 5.896, 95% CI 1.203-28.897, p 0.029) were associated severe disease. CONCLUSIONS: Hypotension, thrombocytopenia, and hemoconcentration during the febrile phase might indicate progression towards severe disease.