Deaths due to dengue fever at a tertiary care hospital in Lahore, Pakistan.
OBJECTIVE
We conducted this study to review deaths due to dengue fever (DF) during a large outbreak of DF in Lahore, Pakistan.


METHODS
We reviewed deaths due to DF at Jinnah Hospital Lahore between August and November 2011. Clinical and laboratory data were abstracted. The 2011 World Health Organization Regional Office for South-East Asia (WHO SEARO) guidelines were used to classify the disease.


RESULTS
Out of 128,634 probable DF patients who visited the outpatient department, 2313 patients were hospitalized; 1699 (73.3%) were male. RT-PCR was positive in 92 of 114 hospitalized patients (DENV-2 in 91 patients and DENV-3 in 1 patient). Sixty dengue-related deaths were reported; 41 (68.3%) were male. The mean age (± standard deviation) was 44 (± 20.5) y. The diagnosis at the time of presentation was DF in 5 (8.3%), dengue haemorrhagic fever without shock in 16 (26.6%), dengue shock syndrome in 20 (33%), and expanded dengue syndrome in 19 (31.7%) patients. Expanded dengue syndrome included encephalopathy in 12 (20%) patients, intracerebral bleed in 3 (5%), multiorgan failure in 3 (5%), and Guillain-Barré syndrome in 1 (1.6%). Twenty-nine (48.3%) patients had at least 1 comorbidity.


CONCLUSIONS
Dengue shock syndrome and expanded dengue syndrome were the most common causes of death.
From the Department of Medicine, Allama Iqbal Medical College/Jinnah Hospital , Lahore , Pakistan.
Muhammad Zaman Khan
MZ
Assir
Hafiz Ijaz
HI
Ahmad
Muhammad Adnan
MA
Masood
Umair
U
Kamran
Noshin Wasim
NW
Yusuf
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003715:Dengue / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D019595:Severe Dengue / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult