Clinical audit on association between platelet count and serological parameters in dengue fever cases in a tertiary care hospital

Objectives: The study aimed to understand the prevalence of thrombocytopenia and the association between platelet count and serological parameters, NS1 Ag and IgM Ab, in clinically diagnosed dengue patients. Material and Methods: This is a hospital-based retrospective descriptive study. Data related to dengue patients were obtained from the Medical Records Department. Cases of 58 dengue patients registered for routine blood investigation for platelet count during November 2023–January 2024 were considered for the analyses. Data collected includes hospital ID, age, platelet count, NS1 Ag, and IgM Ab test results. Analysis of variance of platelet count and serological parameters were done to check age- and gender-wise variations. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to predict the outcome of the association of platelet count, NS1 Ag, and/or IgM Ab by linear regression, and P -values were calculated. The analyses were done using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences statistics version 24.0. Results: Among 58 dengue cases, 60% were males and ~40% were females. The age of the individuals varied from 1 to 81 years with a mean age of 37 years. Platelet levels associated with dengue cases ranged from 10,000 to 290,000/mm 3 . Individuals within 18–60 years were the most affected group, where 10% of cases had a platelet count <20,000. Thrombocytopenia was prevalent in 79% of cases. Among all the dengue patients, 55% were positive for NS1 Ag and 48.3% for IgM Ab. Statistical analysis showed a significant variation in platelet count with age group, represented by a P < 0.05. However, there was not any considerable variation in platelet count with respect to gender. As per Pearson correlation analysis, a significant association was observed between platelet count and IgM Ab with a P value of 0.010. However, platelet count did not show considerable variation with NS1 Ag. Conclusion: The current study laid emphasis on thrombocytopenia as a prevalent clinical manifestation of dengue observed in ~79% of patients. Large fraction of thrombocytopenia cases underlines the severity of dengue cases and urges to adopt preventing strategies. Although NS1Ag is a reliable marker for early dengue detection, higher correlation of platelet level with IgM Ab signifies the mainstay diagnosis by antibody testing.