Adolescent dengue: Clinico-demographic insights and outcome trends

Objectives: Dengue fever (DF) is a mosquito-borne viral illness that poses a major public health challenge in tropical and subtropical regions. The recent surge in dengue cases, along with limited clinical data on its impact in the adolescent population, prompted this study to evaluate the clinical and laboratory profiles, complications and outcomes among hospitalised adolescents with dengue. Material and Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted over 7 months at a tertiary care hospital in North Karnataka. All patients aged 10–18 years with serologically confirmed dengue infection (Dengue non-structural protein 1 monoclonal antibodies enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and/or immunoglobulin M positive) were enrolled. Detailed demographic, clinical, laboratory and outcome data were recorded using a structured pro forma and analysed using Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Results: A total of 113 patients met the inclusion criteria. Based on the World Health Organization classification, 87 patients (77%) had dengue with warning signs, 18 (16%) had severe dengue and 8 (7%) had dengue without warning signs. The mean age was 13.7 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.6:1. Common clinical features included fever (98.2%), abdominal pain (68.1%), myalgia (48.6%), headache (48.6%), hepatomegaly (17.6%) and bleeding manifestations (8%). Among laboratory parameters, leukopenia (<4,000/cumm) was observed in 82 cases (72.5%), thrombocytopenia (<1 lakh/cumm) in 75 cases (66.9%) and the mean haematocrit was 38.5%. The most frequent complication in severe dengue cases was hypotension (72.2%), followed by polyserositis (38.9%), encephalitis (22.2%) and myocarditis (11.1%). Mortality was recorded in 2 patients (1.8%). The findings indicate that dengue tends to be more severe during adolescence. Conclusion: DF predominantly affects adolescent males and is associated with a higher rate of complications in this age group. Severe dengue in adolescents carries a significant risk of adverse outcomes, highlighting the need for early recognition, close monitoring and prompt management to reduce morbidity and mortality.