FERRITIN AS A PROGNOSTIC MARKER OF DISEASE SEVERITY IN DENGUE FEVER

Background: Every year, as many as 400 million individuals worldwide become infected with severe dengue, and 22,000 die as a result. Dengue fever is a leading cause of acute febrile disease worldwide, particularly in the tropics and subtropics. Reticulo-endothelial cells heavily generate ferritin, an acute-phase reactant, in response to infection and inflammation. Serum ferritin levels are generally elevated after dengue virus infection. Objective: To detect Ferritin as a predictive marker of illness severity in Dengue Fever. Methodology: A cross-sectional observational research was conducted in the Department of medicine, Bolan medical college/ Bolan medical complex hospital Quetta. The study duration was one year from March 2023 to March 2024. Our study comprised a total of 200 patients. Our study comprised patients who were diagnosed with Dengue fever based on their clinical examination, history, and positive “nonstructural protein 1 (NS 1) antigen” or “Dengue IgM antibodies”. Upon admission, all patients had their serum ferritin levels tested using ELISA. Individuals were placed into two groups based on their serum ferritin levels. All data were analyzed using the SPSS 24 version. Results: Out of two hundred individuals, 130 (65%) were males and 70 (35%) were females. The average age of patients was 31.12 (±8.73) years. The average hospital stay lasted 4 (±1.22) days. 150 (75%) patients had serum ferritin levels over 100 µg/dl, whereas 50 (25%) had levels below 100 µg/dl. Out of 50 with normal levels of ferritin, only 4 (8%) acquired severe dengue, whereas 120 (60%) of 150 developed severe dengue (p=0.0001). Conclusion: Elevated levels of ferritin in the blood are substantially related with severe dengue. In individuals having severe type of dengue, the mean of ferritin levels are higher than those with dengue fever. The level of ferritin in the blood upon first examination may be a biomarker for predicting the degree of illness in dengue.