Risk factors for severe dengue mortality in pediatric patients at Mario Catarino Rivas

Abstract

Introduction: Dengue is a disease with a variable clinical presentation, easy to handle in most of the times, it causes an enormous challenge to the health system when it occurs in epidemics. Methodology: Study of quantitative, non-experimental, analytical cross-sectional, retrospective approach. The total number of cases of severe dengue registered at the Mario Catarino Rivas Hospital from January to June of 2019 attended in the observation rooms, dengue room and PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) were analyzed. Sampling was used for convenience, 5,000 cases of dengue were registered, 287 with a diagnosis of severe dengue, constituting the study sample. Results: The average age of 9.8 ± 3.4 years, 57.5% of the sample belongs to the female gender, the remaining 42.5% to the male gender. In its entirety, the studied group presented fever, 70.03% abdominal pain, 65.9% diarrhea, 56.44% myalgia, 47.4% headache, 35.2% vomiting, 20.2% petechiae and 13.5 % nausea, among its complications we found that 94.07% presented shock,12.2% acid-base alterations, and 6.6% showed neurological alterations. Conclusions: The main prevention is to interrupt the transmission chain, by controlling the vector infestation, eliminating its breeding grounds. Health education and environmental reordering are required, with community and multisectoral participation.