Dual dengue and malaria infection in children Al-Wahda teaching hospital, Aden, Mar-August 2010

This prospective-observational study was conducted on children [<15 years] admitted with co-infection of dengue fever and malaria in Al-Wahda T. Hospital during the period Mar-August 2010, aiming to define the existence and extents of this problem and to illustrate its clinical pattern and outcome. Forty three children admitted with co-infection of serologically positive dengue fever and smear positive malaria were enrolled in this study, representing 24.2% of the total 178 patients admitted with dengue fever during the same period. Most of the patients [81.4%] were >/= 5 years of age and male to female ratio was 1.1:1. Fever [100%], loss of appetite [93%]. musculoskeletal pain [88.4%], vomiting [76.7%], headache [74.4%], chills [53.5%], pallor [53.5%], leukopenia [79.1%] and thrombocytopenia [81.4%] were the main clinical and laboratory findings. Complications were multiple, dehydration [65.1%] and anemia [51.2%] were the most common and dengue hemorrhagic fever was diagnosed in 20.9% of patients. The case fatality was 7%. dengue hemorrhagic fever and shock were the leading causes of death. It can be concluded from this study that co-infection of dengue fever and malaria is an existed and recognized problem in our community, causing severe and complicated conditions. Therefore, special attention for the possibility of this co-infection, along with early recognition, proper treatment and activation of preventive measures for mosquito-control are highly recommended