AbstractBackground and Aim: Dengue fever is one of the most important emerging vectorborne viral diseases. There are four serotypes of dengue viruses, each of which is capable of causing selflimited dengue fever or even lifethreatening dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and sonographic findings of dengue fever. Methods: This crosssectional observational study was carried out in the Department of Pediatrics, Gujarat Adani institute of medical science, Bhuj. The participants were clinically and serologically evaluated against NS1 antigen, IgM and IgG antibody. These patients also underwent USG abdomen and chest within the first week of the illness. Results: Out of the 200 confirmed dengue cases, 53% cases were males and the 47% were females. The most common age group was school going children (42%) and adolescents (36%). All the cases had fever (100%). Other features were vomiting in 71.9%, abdominal pain in 45.9 %, 33.2% had hepatomegaly, bradycardia in 12.9%, and rashes in 10.4%. Investigations revealed thrombocytopenia in 96.9%, hemoconcentration in 94.2%, leucopenia (< 4000/mm3) in 62.9% and raised liver enzymes in 43.1%. The ultrasonographic findings were hepatomegaly in 84 cases, gall bladder thickening in 61 and splenomegaly in 16.5% of cases. Pleural effusion was noticed in 46.5% and 37% had ascites. Conclusion: Dengue fever should be suspected among children in endemic areas like India when they present with fever, vomiting, myalgia along with hepatomegaly, low platelet count with elevated liver enzymes.
Keywords: Bhuj; Dengue Fever; Hepatomegaly; VectorBorne.