Role of platelet transfusion in dengue hemorrhagic fever.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) are life threatening clinical manifestations of infection due to dengue virus. The clinical features of DHF/DSS are due to bleeding diathesis and increased capillary leak(l). The mechanisms of hemorrhagic manifestations in DHF/DSS are not well understood. The suggested factors contributing to bleeding include thrombocytopenia, coagulopathy and vasculopathy(2). Suggested mechanisms for thrombocytopenia include maturational arrest of megakaryocyte production in the bone marrow(3-5), platelet destruction by the virus itself(5,6) or disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)(6,7).