Dengue outbreak in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2016: Clinical and hematological features in children

Dengue is the human arbovirus with the highest morbidity and mortality in the world. The largest outbreak of dengue in Buenos Aires, Argentina, occurred during 2016. Objective: To describe clinical and hematological features in children with confirmed dengue infection. Methods: Cross sectional study that included children attended since January 18th to April 15th 2016 at Hospital de Niños "Dr. Ricardo Gutiérrez". Results: among 156 registered cases, 82 confirmed cases by virology test; 130 (83 %) autochthonous cases. The most frequent clinical manifestations were fever, headache and retro-ocular pain. Laboratory abnormalities were leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and increased liver enzymes. Thirty-five children were hospitalized (23 %), 25 (16 %) with warning signs. In our study, no cases of severe dengue occurred. Conclusions: early recognition of warning signs and hematological monitoring is essential in order to detect patients at risk and offer them adequate early treatment.