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OBJECTIVE: Dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS) is a growing global health problem. It is not known how age affects the outcome of secondary dengue infections. In an island setting, a large DHF/DSS outbreak in Cuba occurred in 1981. Involved were individuals, 3-40 year old, whose only lifetime dengue exposure was to DEN-1 in 1977 and DEN-2 in 1981. In this report we calculate age-specific DHF/DSS hospitalization and death rates based on secondary DEN 2 infections. METHODS: Published and unpublished hospital and seroepidemiologic data from the 1981 DHF/DSS outbreak were used for the analysis. RESULTS: Children, aged 3 and 4 years, with secondary DEN-2 infections were found to have a high death rate (25.4/10 000 secondary DEN-2 infections). The death rate fell with increasing age, being 15.9-fold lower in the 10-14-year age group. The death rate for children aged 3-14 years was 14.5-fold higher than in young adults aged 15-39 years. The death rate rose somewhat in adults aged 50 years and older. DHF/DSS hospitalization rates showed the same trend as death rates. CONCLUSIONS: Age is an important variable in the outcome of secondary DEN-2 infections. DHF/DSS case fatality and hospitalization rates are highest in young infants and the elderly. The risk that a child will die during a secondary DEN-2 infection is nearly 15-fold higher than the risk in adults.
Guzmán et al. (Sat,) studied this question.