Frequency and Clinical Manifestations of Dengue in Urban Medellin, Colombia
Table 3
Comparison of the clinical symptoms and signs of ambulatory and hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed dengue infections and other febrile illnesses. Medellin, Colombia, March 2008-2009.
Symptoms and signs
Ambulatory and hospitalized patients
All patients
DVIa
Other febrile illness cases
value
Number
%
Number
%
Number
%
General status
Asthenia
612
78.4
53
72.6
559
79.0
0.209
Head
Headacheb
457
82.0
34
75.6
423
82.6
0.236
Retro-orbital painb
215
38.6
20
44.4
195
38.1
0.400
Neck painb
197
35.4
23
51.1
174
34.0
0.021
Nasal congestion
412
52.8
36
49.3
376
53.1
0.536
Rhinorrhea
397
50.8
36
49.3
361
51.0
0.785
Sore throat
283
36.2
26
35.6
257
36.3
0.907
Flushed face
139
17.8
14
19.2
125
17.7
0.746
Injected conjunctiva
204
26.1
15
20.5
189
26.7
0.254
Red throat
333
42.6
27
37.0
306
43.2
0.305
Gastrointestinal
Anorexia
585
74.9
55
75.3
530
74.9
0.927
Vomiting
365
46.7
38
52.1
327
46.2
0.338
Abdominal pain
307
39.3
27
37.0
280
39.5
0.669
Diarrhea
209
26.8
20
27.4
189
26.7
0.897
Respiratory
Cough
531
68.0
49
67.1
482
68.1
0.867
Difficulty breathing
167
21.4
18
24.7
149
21.0
0.473
Crepitus
72
9.2
15
20.5
57
8.1
<0.001
Rhonchi
98
12.5
15
20.5
83
11.7
0.030
Pleural effusion
4
0.5
0
0.0
4
0.6
—
Other signs and symptoms
Back painb
245
44.0
19
42.2
226
44.1
0.874
Myalgiasb
288
51.7
24
53.3
264
51.6
0.819
Arthralgiasb
257
46.1
22
48.9
235
45.9
0.699
Rash
51
6.5
7
9.6
44
6.2
0.388
Hemorrhagic symptoms
Positive tourniquet testc
28
3.6
2
2.7
26
3.7
0.938
Epistaxis
45
5.8
3
4.1
42
5.9
0.709
Bleeding gums
28
3.6
2
2.7
26
3.7
0.938
Hematemesis
12
1.5
1
1.4
11
1.6
0.705
Blood in stool
15
1.9
1
1.4
14
2.0
0.930
Blood in urine
11
1.4
1
1.4
10
1.4
0.622
Eccymoses
6
0.8
0
0.0
6
0.8
—
Petechiae
9
1.2
0
0.0
9
1.3
—
Physiological findings, median (range)
Temperature (°C)
37.1
(35.3–40.1)
37.0
(35.6–40.0)
37.1
(35.3–40.1)
0.807
Systolic blood (mmHg)
100
(60–200)
99
(80–140)
100
(60–200)
0.147
Diastolic blood (mmHg)
60
(50–110)
60
(50–90)
60
(50–110)
0.024
Respiratory rate /min
22
(14–100)
24
(16–100)
22
(14–80)
0.119
Pulse (beats/min)
100
(48–180)
110
(58–180)
100
(48–180)
0.026
Platelets (count/mm3×103)d
376
(68–718)
332
(68–718)
363
(76–694)
0.771
Haematocrit (%)d
36.4
(21–55.4)
36.0
(21–47.3)
36.5
(22–55.4)
0.371
Neutrophils (%)d
70.6
(4.4–99.7)
63.3
(12.6–88.9)
71.5
(4.4–99.7)
0.135
White blood cell countc
12.5
(2.9–94)
14.3
(4.6–59)
12.4
(2.9–94)
0.360
: febrile, laboratory-confirmed dengue virus infection.
bThe denominator all patients = 557, dengue laboratory positives = 45, and other febrile illness cases = 512 (patients ≥ 3 years old). To assure accurate reporting of pain symptoms, children under three years of age were excluded during the calculation of frequency of headache, retro-orbital pain, neck pain, myalgias, arthralgias, and joint pain.
c20 or more petechiae in 6.45 cm2.
dComplete for 17 dengue laboratory-positive cases and in 179 other febrile illness cases.
