Dengue Fever

1. clinical manifestation ranges from self-limited dengue fever to dengue hemorrhagic fever with shock
2. classic dengue fever is an acute febrile illness, with headache, retro-orbital pain, myalgias and arthralgias ("break-bone fever")
3. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is the most serious manifestation of dengue viral infection, characterized by increased vascular permeability/capillary leak, fever,  hemorrhage, and thrombocytopenia (plts <100K)
4. risk of severe disease is higher in subsequent infections (rather than primary dengue infection)
5. diagnosis is mainly clinical, but can send serum sample for an IgM immunoassay  
   

(Victoria Kelly MD, 9/9/10)