Occurrence and correlates of symptom persistence following acute dengue fever in Peru.
Dengue virus (DENV) infection causes an acute febrile illness generally considered to result in either complete recovery or death. Some reviews describe persistent symptoms after the febrile phase, although empirical data supporting this phenomenon is scarce. We evaluated symptom persistence in acute febrile DENV-infected and DENV-negative (controls) individuals from Peru. Self-reported solicited symptoms were evaluated at an acute and a follow-up visit, occurring 10-60 days after symptom onset. Rate of persistence of at least one symptom was 7.7% and 10.5% for DENV infected and control subjects, respectively (P < 0.01). The DENV-infected individuals had lower rates of persistent respiratory symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, headache, and fatigue, but higher rates of persistent rash compared with controls. Older age and female gender were positively associated with symptom persistence. As dengue cases continue to increase annually, even a relatively low frequency of persistent symptoms may represent a considerable worldwide morbidity burden.
Virology Department, United States Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, Lima and Iquitos, Peru; Dirección Regional de Salud de Piura, Ministerio de Salud, Piura, Peru; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
Eric S
ES
Halsey
Maya
M
Williams
V Alberto
VA
Laguna-Torres
Stalin
S
Vilcarromero
Victor
V
Ocaña
Tadeusz J
TJ
Kochel
Morgan A
MA
Marks
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003715:Dengue / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005076:Exanthema / Q000821:virology*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D006261:Headache / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010146:Pain / Q000821:virology*; D010568:Peru; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult