title: Short report: assessment of the World Health Organization scheme for classification of dengue severity in Nicaragua.
abstract: The World Health Organization (WHO) scheme for classification of dengue severity was evaluated in a three-year study of 1,671 confirmed dengue cases in three Nicaraguan hospitals. The WHO classification of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) was compared with the presence of hemorrhagic manifestations, signs of vascular permeability, marked thrombocytopenia, and shock in 114 infants, 1,211 children, and 346 adults. We found that strict application of the WHO criteria fails to detect a significant number of patients with severe manifestations of dengue, especially in adults.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Virología, Centro Nacional de Diagnóstico y Referencia, Ministerio de Salud, Managua, Nicaragua.
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balmaseda
authors.forename: Samantha Nadia
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Hammond
authors.forename: Maria Angeles
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cuadra
authors.forename: Soraya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Solano
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Idiaquez
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003715:Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009527:Nicaragua / Q000453:epidemiology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D019595:Severe Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014944:World Health Organization