Acute febrile illness surveillance in a tertiary hospital emergency department: comparison of influenza and dengue virus infections.

In 2009, an increased proportion of suspected dengue cases reported to the surveillance system in Puerto Rico were laboratory negative. As a result, enhanced acute febrile illness (AFI) surveillance was initiated in a tertiary care hospital. Patients with fever of unknown origin for 2-7 days duration were tested for Leptospira, enteroviruses, influenza, and dengue virus. Among the 284 enrolled patients, 31 dengue, 136 influenza, and 3 enterovirus cases were confirmed. Nearly half (48%) of the confirmed dengue cases met clinical criteria for influenza. Dengue patients were more likely than influenza patients to have hemorrhage (81% versus 26%), rash (39% versus 9%), and a positive tourniquet test (52% versus 18%). Mean platelet and white blood cell count were lower among dengue patients. Clinical diagnosis can be particularly difficult when outbreaks of other AFI occur during dengue season. A complete blood count and tourniquet test may be useful to differentiate dengue from other AFIs.

Citation

Olga D Lorenzi, Christopher J Gregory, Luis Manuel Santiago, Héctor Acosta, Ivonne E Galarza, Saint Luke's Acute Febrile Illness Investigation Team, Elizabeth Hunsperger, Jorge Muñoz, Duy M Bui, M Steven Oberste, Silvia Peñaranda, Carlos García-Gubern, Kay M Tomashek. Acute febrile illness surveillance in a tertiary hospital emergency department: comparison of influenza and dengue virus infections. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. 2013 Mar;88(3):472-80

Mesh Tags

PMID: 23382160

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