Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Dengue: A Pilot Study

INTRODUCTION: Association of hearing loss has been found with a couple of febrile illnesses. Dengue fever is an arboviral febrile illness that is transmitted by Aedes mosquito. A case of sensorineural hearing was documented in the literature recently in dengue haemorrhagic fever. We are aiming to find if hearing loss occurs in dengue patients. METHODS AND METHODOLOGY: We assessed the hearing of ten patients diagnosed with Dengue fever from August 2018 to October 2018, prospectively. Patients who had a prior history of hearing loss or chronic suppurative otitis media were excluded from the study. Brief history, clinical examination and audiological assessment were made for all patients. All patients were followed up for three months with repeat audiological evaluation. RESULTS: Two patients complained of hearing loss after the onset of fever. They had a bilateral mild sensorineural hearing loss on audiological evaluation. One other patient was found to have bilateral high-frequency hearing loss although there was no complaint of hearing impairment. On three months follow up, both patients had bilateral mild sensorineural hearing loss with no improvement. CONCLUSION: Hearing loss in dengue fever, even though being mild in nature is irreversible. The cause of hearing loss in dengue is yet to be found. For the definitive association of hearing loss in dengue fever further studies are required.