Clinical, Laboratory and Radiological Parameters in Children with Dengue Fever and Predictive Factors for Dengue Shock Syndrome

This article is a prospective study of the clinical, laboratory and radiological picture of children satisfying the case definition criteria of dengue by WHO admitted at Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, a suburban tertiary referral centre, to determine the predictive factors for dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Data were analyzed by Chi-squared test and Student's t-test for significance after dividing the patients into two groups, those with and those without DSS for the same. Bleeding manifestations, presence of effusion on USG/X-ray, haematocrit >35%, WBC <4000/cumm, Na < or =130 meq/l, bicarbonate level of <18 mmol/l, deranged coagulation profile and serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) > or =40 IU were predictive of DSS.