BENGALURU: Dengue shock syndrome is one among the stages of dengue haemorrhagic fever, which is a fatal condition, usually occurs in extremes of ages as in young children and in elderly also.
Who are more prone to dengue fever?
While there is no any reason/research that can prove why some people get severe dengue fever that leads to the final stage of dengue called dengue shock syndrome, however, it is believed that people with a weak immune system and those who are developing a second dengue infection, are more vulnerable to dengue fever. The severity also depends on multiple reasons such as immunity, recurrent dengue infection, and multiple co-morbidities and so on and also who are suffering from illnesses.
In other cases, malnutrition
is also one of the factors for dengue as it weakens the immune system.The shock in dengue is a very complex diagnosis and there are no methods to predict the outcome and progression. Until the recent times, there is no specific therapy that has been shown to be effective.
Signs of dengue shock syndrome
■Abdominal pain or tenderness
■ Persistent vomiting
■ Clinical fluid accumulation (i.e., Pleural effusion or ascites)
■ Mucosal bleeding
■ Lethargy or restlessness
■ Liver enlargement (≥2cm)
Increases in hematocrit concurrent with rapid decrease in platelet count Shock syndrome will occur after two to seven days of infection, patients can be seen getting affected with symptoms like, blueness around the mouth caused by the condition circumoral cyanosis, spitting up of blood, heart inflammation, pneumonia, sudden collapse, weak pulse, easy bruising and bleeding are some of the major symptoms.
Patient will have multi-organ involvement such as lungs will be filled with water, stomach will be filled with water, liver enzymes will be elevated, and gallbladder will be infected and swollen. The urine output will be decreased and various salts (sodium, potassium, calcium) levels in body will be altered and creatinine and urea levels will increase. Apart from this, the patient can also witness acidosis and breathing difficulty.
The author is a consultant, Internal Medicine, Fortis Hospital