Epidemiological Profile and Clinical Determinants of Dengue Severity in a Colombian Andean Municipality

INTRODUCTION: Dengue virus (DENV) is an arboviral infection transmitted by female mosquitoes of the Aedes genus. OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiological behavior of dengue cases in a population from the Andean region of Colombia. METHODS: This observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study analyzed 300 randomly selected patient records from a total of 1400 cases reported in 2024. RESULTS: No significant associations were found between disease severity and patient sex or geographical location. However, age range and platelet count were key factors, with younger patients more likely to have mild dengue and platelet abnormalities being the strongest predictor of severity. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies platelet count abnormalities as the strongest factor associated with dengue severity, reinforcing their role as a key predictor of disease progression.