TITLE:
Liver Damage during Dengue Fever in Ouagadougou
AUTHORS:
Alice Nanelin Guingané, Judith Ouango, Abdoulaye Sourabié, Christiane Couna Bere, Roger Sombié, Alain Bougouma, Abdel Karim Sermé, Aboubacar Coulibaly, Sosthène Somda
KEYWORDS:
Dengue Fever, Liver Damage, Cytolysis, Hemorrhagic Fever
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Gastroenterology,
Vol.12 No.9,
September
16,
2022
ABSTRACT: Dengue fever is widespread in all tropical and subtropical areas of the world and is the main public health problem posed by arboviroses. In Burkina Faso, an outbreak of dengue serotype “DENV-2”, which is responsible for severe forms of dengue, has been reported. In this study, we will discuss liver damage during this disease. The aim of this study was to describe the sociodemographic, diagnostic, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects of dengue patients with hepatic cytolysis. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study of dengue disease in 2 facilities in the city of Ouagadougou. The study was spread over a period of 3 months from August to November 2019. The study population consisted of all patients hospitalised for dengue with a positive AgNS1 and/or IgM rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and presenting signs of liver damage. Results: During our study period we recruited 134 patients with dengue fever of which 93 or 69.4% had at least one elevated transaminase. The sex ratio was 1.90 and the average age was 35 years. Symptoms of liver damage were rare with right hypochondrial pain in 4.30% of cases and jaundice in 1.07% of cases. Dengue haemorrhagic fever was found in 5 patients. IgG was negative in 77.42%. The majority of patients (44% or 47.31%) had at least one transaminase value elevated to the upper limit of normal (ULN); and a minority, 14 patients or 15.06%, had transaminases above 10 ULN. A small proportion of patients had hepatocellular failure 26.92% with a lowered prothrombin level. Ninety-four per cent (94.62%) of the patients received analgesics. Level 1 analgesic (paracetamol) was the most widely administered, particularly in 76 patients (86.36%). More than half of the patients (57.14%) had a length of stay of less than or equal to 3 days and the outcome was favourable in 91.40%. Conclusion: Dengue virus causes alterations in the liver parenchyma. The degree of liver damage is variable. As clinical symptoms are almost non-existent, the measurement of transaminases remains important.