Pooling data on adult dengue patients from different regions should help us to understand the natural history of disease in this group. It would also help in developing evidence-based treatment guidelines and allocating limited and scarce health resources. Our data contribute towards this goal.

The aim of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics and poor prognostic factors associated with high mortality in dengue encephalopathy. Fifteen patients with confirmed dengue infections, who developed encephalopathy, were recruited from two tertiary care hospitals in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Among the factors that contributed to encephalopathy were: Acute liver failure (73%), electrolyte imbalances (80%) and shock (40%). Five (33.3%) patients developed seizures. Disseminated intravascular coagulation was seen in five (33.3%). Secondary bacterial infections were observed in 8 (53.3%) of our patients. The overall mortality rate was 47%.

Overall, these findings are the first to examine the potential role for antigen-specific autoreactive T cells in the pathogenesis of MMP, and confirm that in some individuals the NC16A domain may be an important target antigen.

The origin of the Sinhalese population of Sri Lanka is debated. We subtyped HLA-A*02 in 101 Sinhalese and observed a preponderance of the rare allele HLA-A*0211 which was similar to reported frequencies in northern India. Taken with low-resolution typing for the remaining A, B, C, DR and DQ alleles, these data suggest a North Indian origin for the Sri Lankan Sinhalese.

No abstract