Biomarkers as a diagnostic tool in primary and secondary dengue Infections

Abstract

Introduction: Dengue virus infection presents with a diverse clinical picture ranging from asymptomatic illness to Dengue fever to dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome. Because of its varied clinical presentation, accurate diagnosis is difficult and relies largely on laboratory confirmation. We therefore designed a prospective study to ascertain the role of biomarkers in cases of serologically confirmed primary and secondary dengue infections. Material & Methods: A total of 2165 patients presenting to the hospital with acute febrile illness were serologically confirmed to be suffering from dengue infection. Hematological examinationand Liver function test were carried out for all these cases. Results: A total of 1942 (89.69%) patients were classified as having primary dengue infection and only 182(8.4%) were classified as having secondary dengue infection out of the total seropositive cases (2165).13.16% of these patients had platelet count below 50,000/mm 3. Majority of the patients showed deranged hepatic function. Amongst the hepatic biomarkers AST and GGT were found to be significantly deranged as compared to other parameters.Also it was found that Alkaline phosphatase levels &platelet count may serve as early predictors for the differentiation of primary and secondary dengue infection.Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of biochemical markers in distinguishing dengue from other febrile illness and their role in differentiating primary and secondary dengue cases. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...