Attached
Background: Although dengue infections can lead to severe
clinical disease sometimes resulting in fatalities, the majority of both primary and secondary dengue infections result in
mild/asymptomatic disease that is usually not diagnosed as dengue.
Therefore, we proceeded to investigate epidemiological and comorbid risk factors associated with hospitalization when infected
with dengue.
Methods & Materials: 1689 healthy individuals who were
attending the primary health care facility of the university were
recruited. Information regarding their co-morbid illnesses ajnd
anthropometric measurements were recorded. The dengue antibody status was determined in all individuals.
Results: Although 1152/1689 (68.2%) individuals were seropositive for dengue and onlyl33/1152 (11.5%) of them had been
hospitalized to due to dengue. We found that obesity (BMI>22.9
in adults and above the 85th percentile BMI for age for children),
asthma, allergic rhinitis and a waist circumference of > 80cm in
women was significantly associated with increased risk of hospitalization. The association of hospitalization due to dengue and
obesity was stronger for females (P< 0.0001, odds ratio=3.33,95%
CI = 1.8 to 6.1), when compared to males (p value=0.04, odds
ratio=2.2,95% Cl = 1.1 to 4.5). Although female children were significantly more likely (p = 0.006) to be hospitalized due to dengue
(odds ratio 2.4, 95% Cl=1.3 to 4.4) when compared to male children, no such association was observed in adults. The presence of
diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia or hypertension were not significantly associated with hospitalization due to dengue.
Conclusion: Obesity, a high waist circumference in women,
asthma and allergic rhinitis appear to be associated with a higher
risk of hospitalization when infected with the dengue virus.
