title: [Frequency of gastrointestinal signs and symptoms of dengue. Analysis of a cohort of 1484 patients].
abstract: Dengue is characterized by fever, headache, arthralgia and myalgia. The presence of gastrointestinal signs and symptoms (GISS) is considered a sign of alarm in dengue; however, little information exists regarding the occurrence of these events. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of gastrointestinal signs and symptoms in a cohort of patients with dengue. A total of 1484 medical records of patients with confirmed dengue were reviewed and classified as: dengue without warning signs (DNWS) (n = 700), dengue with warning signs (DWWS) (n = 700) and severe dengue (SD) (n = 84). Of the studied records, 65.71% of patients with DNWS, 92.59% with DWWS and 100% of patients with SD had GISS. In patients with DNWS, nausea / vomiting were the most common symptoms in 319/700 cases (45.57%), followed by abdominal pain in 142/700 (20.29%) and diarrhea in 125/700 (17.86%). There were no cases with melena, hepatomegaly or hematemesis. While in DWWS nausea/vomiting were present in 529/700 (75.57%), abdominal pain in 439/700 (62.71%) and diarrhea in 198/700 (28.28%),(p <0.0001). Melena, hematemesis and hepatomegaly ranged from 0.57% to 1.86% of cases. In SD, nausea/vomiting were registered in 100% of the cases, abdominal pain in 82/84 (97.62%), diarrhea in 65/84 (77.38%), melena in 32/84 (38.10%), hepatomegaly in 28/84 (33.33%) and hematemesis in 26/84 (30.95%). It was evident the high frequency of GISS in cases of DWWS and SD, in contrast to DNWS, in which the frequency of GISS was significantly lower. This suggests a relationship of GISS with the severity of dengue, and their presence should be considered by the decision-making health team for appropriate patient management.
authors.affiliation: Cátedra de Bioquímica General, Escuela de Bioanálisis, Maracaibo-Venezuela. anyeloduran@gmail.com
authors.forename: Anyelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Durán
authors.affiliation: Sección de Virología, Instituto de Investigaciones Clínicas Dr. Américo Negrette, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo-Venezuela.
authors.forename: Edixon
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ochoa
authors.affiliation: Sección de Virología, Instituto de Investigaciones Clínicas Dr. Américo Negrette, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo-Venezuela.
authors.forename: Sirley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alcocer
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Regional de Salud Pública, MPPS, Maracaibo-Venezuela.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Regional de Salud Pública, MPPS, Maracaibo-Venezuela.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Millano
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Regional de Salud Pública, MPPS, Maracaibo-Venezuela.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Sección de Virología, Instituto de Investigaciones Clínicas Dr. Américo Negrette, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo-Venezuela.
authors.forename: Mery
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maldonado
authors.affiliation: Sección de Virología, Instituto de Investigaciones Clínicas Dr. Américo Negrette, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo-Venezuela.
authors.forename: Nereida
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Valero
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003715:Dengue / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D006529:Hepatomegaly / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000209:etiology; D014687:Venezuela / Q000453:epidemiology; D014839:Vomiting / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult