Clinical and laboratory profile of dengue in the elderly

BACKGROUND: Dengue is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease in the world with a 30-fold increase in incidence in the last 50 years. Approximately, 50 million dengue infections occur annually. AIM: To study the various clinical and laboratory manifestations of dengue in the elderly and observe for any variations in IgM titer elevation with progression of age. DESIGN: Retrospective observational study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Medical charts of all patients admitted to the Division of Geriatrics of the institute during study period were reviewed for collection of demographic, clinical, and laboratory information. The diagnosis of dengue was made based on positive dengue IgM ELISA. An elderly patient referred to one whose age was ≥60 years. RESULTS: Fever and myalgia were noted to be the most common clinical manifestation with only four patients presenting with overt bleeding manifestations. Only one patient presented in delirium and there was no case fatality. Thrombocytopenia was the single most common hematological abnormality noted. Hyponatremia was found to be prevalent in a majority of the patients and were symptomatic in more than half of them. There have been very few studies done worldwide on the varied clinical manifestations of dengue in the elderly.