Demographic trends and analysis of dermatological presentations of dengue fever: A study in dengue field Hospital, Lahore during dengue epidemic 2021 amidst COVID 19 pandemic
Abstract
To study the demographic trends of dengue fever outbreak and spectrum of skin lesions in dengue fever patients, describe their relationship with type of dengue fever and other coinfection like COVID -19.
This descriptive study was undertaken at Dengue Field Hospital, Expo Centre, Lahore from August 2021 to November 2021. Patient demographics, clinical profile and mucocutaneous lesions were noted in those patients fulfilling criteria for clinical diagnosis of dengue fever. Those with a strong clinical suspicion of dengue fever or with positive serology were enrolled. Diagnosis of COVID-19 was also confirmed by lab test in suspected coinfection cases. SPSS 18 was used for statistical analysis of clinical data.
551 cases of confirmed dengue fever were evaluated. Mean age of patients was 27 years. Male were 72% and female 28 %. Mean duration of fever was 5 days. Skin rash was seen in 21% cases. 75% had oral cavity involvement. The main site of oral lesions was buccal mucosa (45%) then soft palate (39%). The most common oral symptom was bitterness of mouth (93%) and then gum bleeding 34%. Lesions in oral cavity included mucosal erythema (89%), lip crusting (57%), candidiasis (45%), palatal vesicles (45%) and herpes simplex (32%). Less common manifestations were angioedema, tongue petechiae and inflamed tonsils.
Most of mucocutaneous manifestations were secondary disorders mostly seen in earlier phase of illness facilitated by dengue fever related systemic damage, immune suppression or adverse effects of treatment. Health professional should completely examine for ensuring full patients support and treatment.
How to Cite This Article
Batool S, Raffad R, Malik KU, Amin U, Ahmad A. Demographic trends and analysis of dermatological presentations of dengue fever: A study in dengue field Hospital, Lahore during dengue epidemic 2021 amidst COVID 19 pandemic. J Pak Soc Intern Med. 2025;6(4):327–330. doi:10.70302/jpsim.v6i4.2560
Conflict of Interest
All authors declare no competing interests.
Funding
No specific funding was received for this research.
Funder information follows the Crossref Funder Registry standard.
References
- World Health Organization. Dengue and severe dengue. Accessesd from: [https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dengue-and-severe-dengue]
- Dengue Surveillance and Response, 2021. Punjab Health Department. Accessed from: [http://health.punjab.gov.pk]
- Population Statistics and Socioeconomic Data of Lahore. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Accessed from [http//www.pbs.gov.pk.]
- Chiu YC, Wu KL, Kuo CH.Endemic dengue fever: a clinical study of mucocutaneous manifestations in Taiwan. Kaoh J Med Sci. 2013;29(9):518-523.
- Thomas EA, John M, Bhatia A. Cutaneous manifestations of dengue viral infection in Punjab (India). Int J Dermatol. 2017;56(10):1042-9.
- Halstead SB. "Dengue: Overview and History. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. 2020.
- National Institute of Health Pakistan. Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin. NIH, Islamabad. Accessed from: [http//www.nih.org.pk]
- Butt MH, Ahmad A, Misbah S, Mallhi TH, Khan YH. Dengue fever and COVID-19 coinfection; a threat to public health for coepidemic in Pakistan. J Med Virol. 2021;93(2):671-2.
- Bhatt S, Gething PW, Brady OJ. The global distribution and burden of dengue. Nature. 2013;496(7446):504-7.
- Drago F. Oral and cutaneous manifestations of viral and bacterial infections: Not only COVID-19 disease. Clin Dermatol. 2021; 39(3) :384-404
- Mahboob A, Iqbal Z, Javed R, Taj A, Munir A, Saleemi MA, et al. Dermatological manifestations of dengue fever. J ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. 2012; 24(1) :34-36.
Reference list indexed for Google Scholar and ResearchGate. DOI links resolve via doi.org.