Management of Dengue Fever in Children: Current Situation at the Regional University Hospital of Ouahigouya (Burkina Faso)

Introduction: Considered as re-emerging disease from the 1970s onwards, dengue fever has now become the most widespread arbovirosis in the world. The aim of our work was to provide paediatric data on the subject in our context. Patients and method: This was a retrospective study covering the period from January 1st to 31st December 2023. Children aged 29 days to 14 years hospitalised in the paediatric department of the Regional University Hospital of Ouahigouya, were included. Results: One hundred and five patients were included in the study. The mean age of these patients was 4.9 ± 2.6 years, with extremes of 08 months and 14 years. The sex ratio was 1.4. Children under five years of age accounted for 54.3% of cases. The main reasons for consultation were fever, headache, vomiting and epistaxis. The main complications were haemorrhage (37.1%), severe thrombocytopenia (18.1%) and hepatic cytolysis (10.5%). More than half the patients (51.4%) were AgNS1 positive. The average hospital stay was 3.9 ± 2.2 days, with extremes of 2 and 11 days. The case fatality rate was 4.8%. Severe malaria (p = 0.012) and shock (p = 0.001) were statistically associated with death. Conclusion: Dengue fever has become a public health problem in our context. Preventing and managing it requires raising public awareness, ongoing training for healthcare professionals and epidemiological surveillance.