Epidemiology Of Dengue Infections In Kassala, Eastern Sudan

Background: Dengue is the most common mosquito-borne infection. About 2.5 billion people are estimated to be at risk of infection. Methods & Materials: This is retrospective study curried out at Kassala Teaching Hospital, eastern Sudan between Augusts to November 2010, the diagnosis or exclusion of dengue infection was conducted using ELISA IgM serology. Results: Eighty-one (71.7%) out of 113 patients had confirmed dengue infection at Kassala, Eastern Sudan during the study period. According to the WHO criteria, dengue fever (DF), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) were observed in 30.9, 58, and 11.1% of these patients, respectively. The mean age of these 81 patients’ was25.5 years. Male: female ratio was 1.8:1. Various symptoms including fever (100%), headache (75.3%), vomiting (55.6%), nausea (53.1%), and backache (30.9%) were observed among these patients. Thrombocytopenia (< 100/109platelets/L), and leucopenia (WBC count < 4,000 109cells/L) and hemo concentration (hematocrit >45) were reported in 86.4, 69.1, and 67.9% of the Patients, respectively. High alanine aminotrans-ferase (ALT, >65 U/L) and aspartate aminotrans-ferase (AST > 37 U/L) were seen in 9.9 and14.8% of the patients, respectively. There were five (6.1%) deaths, three of them had DHF and the other two patients had DSS. Conclusion: The current study showed that the majority of the dengue patients were adult, with the male gender preponderance. DHF and DSS were observed in 58 and 11.1%, respectively. The mortality rate was 6.1%.