Bleeding frequency among dengue patients with thrombocytopenia across various serotypes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61529/idjp.v34i4.460Abstract
Background: Thrombocytopenia in dengue fever leads to bleeding of varying severity. Identifying predictors of bleeding can improve management, while the roles of demographic factors and dengue serotypes remain unclear. This study aimed to determine the frequency of various dengue serotypes and to compare the frequency of bleeding with thrombocytopenia in dengue fever with different serotypes of the dengue virus.
Materials and Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at Sharif Medical City Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, from January 2025 to July 2025 following approval from the ethical committee. A total of 53 patients aged 15 years or older, diagnosed with dengue fever and confirmed by Dengue virus RNA PCR, were enrolled. Thrombocytopenia was classified into very mild, mild, moderate, and severe categories. Bleeding manifestations were categorized into minor and major types. Data were collected through medical records, physical exams, and laboratory tests, and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25.
Results: The median age of patients was 38 (28-51.5) years, with 41 (77.4%) males. DENV-4 was the most common serotype, followed by DENV-2, DENV-1, and DENV-3. Bleeding was observed in 17 (32.1%) of patients, with bleeding frequency significantly associated with thrombocytopenia severity (p < 0.001) and age (p = 0.037), but not with gender (p = 0.077) or serotype (p = 0.153).
Conclusion: Thrombocytopenia severity is a key determinant of bleeding frequency in dengue patients, with moderate and severe thrombocytopenia being strongly associated with higher bleeding risk.
Keywords: Bleeding, Demographics, Dengue fever, Dengue serotype, Thrombocytopenia
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