Yasmine Lodhi, Mariam Mustafa Farooqi.
Clinical characteristics of dengue fever in a medical center of Lahore during 2010 epidemics.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;6(1):129-31.

Dengue is a widespread arthropod-borne infection in human beings, which in recent years has become a major international public health concern. Symptomatic dengue virus infections can present with a wide range of clinical manifestations, from a mild febrile illness to a life-threatening shock syndrome. It is now the most frequent arboviral disease in the world, with an estimated 100 million cases of dengue fever annually, 250,000 cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever, and 25,000 deaths per year1. Material and Methods A total of 80 blood serum samples were collected from suspected patients of dengue fever, aged 4 to 65 years, admitted at medical center in Lahore, and were subjected to hematological, serological analysis using standard laboratory procedures including Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the determination of Dengue specific IgG and IgM antibodies. Results Out of 80 blood samples 50 (62.5%) were confirmed as having significant dengue IgM antibody titer and dengue IgG antibody titer.Aged from 4 years to 76 years, with 29(58%) males and 21(42%) females Out of which 44 (88%) were IgM positive, 30(60 %) were IgG positive and 25(50%) were both IgG and IgM positive. Common presenting symptoms were fever (100%), vomiting (78%), epigastric pain (52%), bleeding tendencies (34%), and erythematous rash (33%).37(74%) presented with bicytopenia, Thrombocytopenia 35(70%), Leucopenia 26(52%), were the predominant. Conclusion It was estimated that endemicity of DF is on the rise in Lahore and a significant proportion of patients had Dengue Fever/Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. This paper discusses the need of an appropriate framework for approaching the environmental control of Dengue virus/Dengue Fever/Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever with reference to the current situation of the flooding and flood related disasters in a resource limited country such as Pakistan.

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