It is a presentation on Dengue hemorrhagic fever, it’s etiology clinical features and management.

1. Clinical Management of
Dengue fever
Dr Indal Chauhan
DNB Resident, General Medicine

2. CONTENTS:
Introduction
Epidemiology
Clinical Diagnosis of DHF/DSS
Laboratory Diagnosis of Dengue
Clinical management

3. Introduction
Dengue is a self-limiting arboviral disease
Transmitted by the infective bite of female Aedes
Aegypti mosquito
Develops disease after 5-6 days of being bitten by an
infective mosquito
Characterized by acute fever accompanied by two or
more of the following manifestations: nausea, vomiting,
rash, headache, retroorbital pain, myalgia, arthralgia,
petechiae, positive tourniquet test, and leukopenia.

4. Epidemiology
Dengue emerged mosquito-borne viral disease in
recent years and is endemic in all continents.
It has shown an increase due to various reasons -
construction activities, lifestyle changes, deficient water
management, improper water storage, stagnation of rain
water in containers lying outside houses and practices
leading to proliferation of vector breeding sites in urban,
semi-urban and rural areas.

5. Dengue viruses, are categorized under the genus
Flavivirus.
These viruses contain single stranded RNA and are
small in size (50 nm).
There are four dengue virus serotypes which are
designated as DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4.
At present DEN1 and DEN2 serotypes are widespread in
India.
Infection with any one serotype confers lifelong
immunity to the virus serotype.

6. Few common and favoured breeding
places/sites of Ae. aegypti

9. Patho-physiology of DF/DHF

10. Clinical manifestations of DF/ DHF
Dengue viral infected person may be asymptomatic or
symptomatic and clinical manifestations vary from
undifferentiated fever to florid haemorrhage and shock.
Depend on various factors such as age, immune status of
the host, the virus strain and primary or secondary infection.
Undifferentiated dengue Fever (UDF): Mild to moderate
fever and it is often difficult to distinguish from other viral
infections. Maculopapular rash may or may not appear
during fever or defervescence. The symptoms of DF may not
be very distinguished and signs of bleeding or capillary
leakage may be absent.

11. Severe dengue Fever: Some patients with dengue virus
infection present with severe manifestations like shock, plasma
leakage, bleeding and organ involvement.
Based on thrombocyte count, haematocrit, evidence of capillary
leakage, bleeding and hypotension.
 DHF has been divided into four grades:
DF: Fever of 2-7 days with two or more of following- Headache,
Retro orbital pain, Myalgia,Arthralgia with or without Leukopenia
thrombocytopenia and no evidence of plasma leakage.

12.  DHF I: Above criteria plus positive tourniquet test
and evidence of plasma leakage.
Thrombocytopenia with platelet count less than 100000/
cu.mm and Hct rise more than 20% over baseline.
 DHF II: Above plus some evidence of spontaneous bleeding in
skin or other organs (black tarry stool, epistaxis, gum bleeds) &
abdominal pain.
Thrombocytopenia with platelet count less than 100000/ cu.mm &
Hct rise more than 20% over baseline.

13.  DHF Ill (DSS): Above plus circulatory failure (weak rapid pulse, narrow
pulse pressure< 20 mm Hg, Hypotension, cold clammy skin,
restlessness).
Thrombocytopenia with platelet count less than 100000/ cu.mm and Hct
rise more than 20% over baseline.
 DHF IV (DSS): Profound shock with undetectable blood pressure or
pulse.
Thrombocytopenia with platelet count less than 100000/ cu.mm and Hct
rise more than 20% over baseline.

14. Criteria for Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever
a)A probable or confirmed case of dengue
plus
b) Haemorrhagic tendencies evidenced by one or more of the following
1. Positive tourniquet test
2. Petechiae, ecchymoses or purpura
3. Bleeding from mucosa, gastrointestinal tract, injection sites or other
sites
4. Haematemesis or malena
Plus
c). Thrombocytopenia (<100,000 cells per cumm)

15. plus
d)Evidence of plasma leakage due to increased vascular permeability,
manifested by one or more of the following :
1. A rise in average haematocrit for age and sex > 20%
2. A more than 20% drop in haematocrit following volume
replacement treatment compared to baseline
3. Signs of plasma leakage (pleural effusion, ascitis, hypoproteinaemia)

16. Dengue Shock Syndrome
All the above criteria for DHF plus evidence of circulatory
failure manifested by rapid and weak pulse and narrow pulse
pressure (≤20 mmHg) or hypotension for age, cold and
clammy skin and restlessness.

17. Case classification
Suspected : A case compatible with the clinical description
Probable : A case compatible with the clinical description with one or
more of the following:
- Supportive serology (reciprocal haemagglutination - inhibition titre,
comparable IgG ELISA titre or positive IgM antibody test in late acute
or convalescent-phase serum specimens)
- Occurrence at same location and time as other confirmed cases of
dengue fever
Confirmed : A case compatible with the clinical description that is
laboratory confirmed

18. Expanded dengue Syndrome (EDS)
Mild or Severe organ involvement may be found in DF/DHF.
Unusual manifestations of DF/DHF are commonly associated
with co-morbidities and with various other co-infections.
Clinical manifestations observed in EDS are as follows:
CNS involvement : Encephalopathy, encephalitis, febrile
seizures, I/C bleed
G. I. involvement: Acute Hepatitis/ fulminant hepatic failure,
cholecystitis, cholangitis,acute pancreatitis

19. Renal involvement: Acute renal failure, haemolytic uremic
syndrome, acute tubular necrosis
Cardiac involvement: Cardiac arrhythmia,
cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, pericardial effusion
Respiratory: Pulmonary oedema, ARDS , pulmonary
haemorrhage. pleural effusion
Eye: Conjunctival bleed, macular haemorrhage, visual
impairment, optic neuritis

21. Differential Diagnosis of DF/DHF
 Enteric fever
 Malaria
 Pharyngitis
 Tonsillitis
 Influenza
 Leptospirosis
 Meningococcal infection
 Chikungunya fever
 Epidemic typhus/ scrub typhus
 Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever
 Ebola haemorrhagic fever

22. Laboratory Diagnosis of Dengue
Following tests are available for the diagnosis of dengue infection:
Haemagglutination-Inhibition (HI),
Complement Fixation (CF),
Neutralization test (NT),
IgM-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAC-ELISA), and
Indirect IgG ELISA.

23. MANAGEMENT
Management of Dengue Fever (DF):
Symptomatic and supportive cares
i. Bed rest is advisable during the acute phase.
ii. Use cold sponging to keep temperature below 39 C.
iii. Antipyretics may be used to lower the body temperature.
Aspirin/NSAID like Ibuprofen etc should be avoided since it may
cause gastritis, vomiting, acidosis and platelet disfunction.
Paracetamol is preferable choice.

24. iv. Oral fluid and electrolyte therapy are recommended for patients
with excessive sweating or vomiting.
v. Patients should be monitored in DHF endemic area until they
become afebrile for one day without the use of antipyretics and after
platelet and haematocrit determinations are stable, platelet count is
>50,000/ cumm.

25. Management of DHF (Febrile )
Symptomatic and supportive cares
Haematocrit should be determined daily from the third day until the
temperature has remained normal for one or two days.
If haematocrit determination is not possible, haemoglobin
determination may be carried out as an alternative.
IV treatment when required for patients are given.

26. Management of DHF Grade I and Grade 2
Symptomatic and supportive cares
All these patients should be observed for signs of shock.
The critical period for development of shock is transition from febrile
to abferile phase of illness, which usually occurs after third day of
illness.
A rise of haemeoconcentration(PCV) indicates need for IV fluid
therapy.
If despite the treatment, the patient develops fall in BP, decrease in
urine output or other features of shock, the management for Grade
III/IV DHF/DSS should be instituted.

28. Management of DHF Grade III and IV
Symptomatic and supportive cares
The patient requires regular and sustained monitoring.
Volume replacement according to chart.

30. Requirement of fluid
The require regimen of fluid should be calculated on the basis of
body weight and charted on a 1-3 hourly basis, or even more
frequently in the case of shock.
For intravenous fluid therapy of patients with DHF, four regimens of
flow of fluid are suggested: 3ml/kg/hr; 6ml/kg/hr; 10ml/kg/hr, and
20ml/kg/hr.

32. Normally change should not be drastic.
 Do not jump from R-2 to R-4 since this can overload the patient with
fluid.
Similarly, reduce the volume of fluid from R-4 to R- 3, from R-3 to R2,
and from R-2 to R-1 in a stepwise manner.

33. Criteria for discharge of patients
Absence of fever for at least 24 hours without the use of anti-
fever therapy
Return of appetite
Visible clinical improvement
Good urine output
Minimum of 2/3 days after recovery from shock
No respiratory distress from pleural effusion or ascitis
Platelet count > 50,000/ cumm

34. Indications for domiciliary management:
No tachycardia
No hypotension
No narrowing of pulse pressure
No bleeding
Platelet count > 100,000/cumm
Patient should come for follow up after 24 hours for evaluation.

35. In case of the following complaints patient should report to nearest
hospital immediately
Bleeding from any site (fresh red spots on skin, black stools, red
urine, nose bleed, menorrhagia )
Severe Abdominal pain, refusal to take orally/ poor intake, persistent
vomiting
Not passing urine for 12 hrs / decreased urinary output
restlessness, seizures, excessive crying (young infant), altered
sensorium and behavioral changes and severe persistent headache
Cold clammy skin
sudden drop in temperature

36. Indications of red cell transfusion
Loss of blood(overt blood) -10% or more of total blood volume -
Preferably whole blood/ component to be used
Refractory shock despite adequate fluid administration and declining
haematocrit
Replacement volume should be 10 ml/kg body wt at a time and
coagulogram should be done
If fluid overload is present PCV is to be

37. Indications of platelet transfusion
In general there is no need to give prophylactic platelets even at <
20,000/ cumm
Prophylactic platelet transfusion may be given at level of < 10,000/
cumm
Prolonged shock; with coagulopathy and abnormal coagulogram
In case of Systemic massive bleeding, platelet transfusion may be
needed in addition to red cell transfusion.
Use of fresh frozen plasma/ cryoprecipitate in coagulopathy with
bleeding.

38. Thank you