Dengue haemorrhagic fever in a child presenting as encephalitis on day one of fever

Dengue haemorrhagic fever in a child presenting as encephalitis on day one of fever.

A nine-year old boy presented on first day of fever with behavioural change, headache and vomiting. He was immunised against Japanese encephalitis. Examination revealed an obese, febrile, drowsy and disoriented child with neck stiffness. His eye opening was spontaneous, spoke inappropriate words and localised the pain. Glasgow coma scale was 12. Cardiovascular, respiratory and abdominal examina...

Dengue haemorrhagic fever

Factors increasing the risk of DHF outbreaks The occurrence of DHF outbreaks is linked to a number of factors, including the density of mosquito vectors, particularly that of Aedes aegypti. The precise population density of Ae. aegypti that is needed to sustain dengue virus transmission epidemically or endemically has yet to be determined, but experience in Singapore in recent years suggests th...

Dengue haemorrhagic fever

The two basic methods for establishing a laboratory diagnosis of dengue infection are detection of the virus (e.g. culture) or detection of anti-dengue antibodies (serology). Until recently, detection of the virus implied solely the recovery of the virus by culture; however, current procedures can detect dengue virus RNA and specific dengue virus antigens. Consequently, these procedures are lik...

Dengue haemorrhagic fever

Dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever in adolescents and adults

Dengue fever (DF) is endemic in tropical and subtropical zones and the prevalence is increasing across South-east Asia, Africa, the Western Pacific and the Americas. In recent years, the spread of unplanned urbanisation, with associated substandard housing, overcrowding and deterioration in water, sewage and waste management systems, has created ideal conditions for increased transmission of t...