Volume 9, Number 8—August 2003
Dispatch
Fluid Intake and Decreased Risk for Hospitalization for Dengue Fever, Nicaragua
, Leonel Pérez†, Christina R. Phares*, Maria de los Angeles Pérez‡, Wendy Idiaquez‡, Julio Rocha§, Ricardo Cuadra§, Emelina Hernandez¶, Luisa Amanda Campos†, Alcides Gonzalez†, Juan Jose Amador†, and Angel Balmaseda†
Table 1
Characteristics of all hospitalized and unhospitalized dengue patientsa
| Data | Hospitalized
cases |
Unhospitalized
cases |
Total |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | Mean (sd) or % of group | n | Mean (sd) or % of group | n | Mean (sd) or % of group | |||
| Demographic data |
||||||||
| Age (y) |
478 |
9.4 (8.9) |
834 |
18.7 (15.5) |
1,312 |
15.3 (14.2) |
||
| Male |
229 |
47.8% |
328 |
39.2% |
557 |
42.3% |
||
| Distance (km) to health facility |
464 |
10.0 (25.0) |
831 |
2.7 (6.1) |
1,295 |
5.3 (16.1) |
||
| Disease classificationa |
||||||||
| Classic DF |
113 |
23.5% |
706 |
84.4% |
819 |
62.1% |
||
| DFHem |
240 |
50.0% |
129 |
15.4% |
369 |
28.0% |
||
| DHF |
67 |
14.0% |
0 |
0% |
67 |
5.1% |
||
| DSS |
16 |
3.3% |
1 |
0.1% |
17 |
1.3% |
||
| DSAS |
30 |
6.3% |
0 |
0% |
30 |
2.3% |
||
| No classification |
14 |
2.9% |
1 |
0.1% |
15 |
1.1% |
||
| Duration of hospitalization (days)b |
||||||||
| Classic DF |
52 |
5.7 (1.7) |
||||||
| DFHem |
95 |
5.1 (1.7) |
||||||
| DHF |
56 |
6.1c (1.5) |
||||||
| DSS |
15 |
6.9c,d (1.9) |
||||||
| DSAS |
28 |
6.1c (1.8) |
||||||
| No classification |
11 |
6.2 (1.9) |
||||||
| Clinical data at presentation |
||||||||
| No. of glasses of fluid ingested during previous 24 he |
331 |
2.9 (2.3) |
757 |
5.6 (3.9) |
1,088 |
4.8 (3.7) |
||
| Thrombocytopenia |
289 |
60.2% |
58 |
6.9% |
347 |
26.4% |
||
| Anorexia |
239 |
50.9% |
422 |
53.3% |
661 |
52.4% |
||
| Stomach pain |
271 |
58.4% |
404 |
51.5% |
675 |
54.4% |
||
| Days since onset of symptoms | 476 | 5.5 (5.6) | 826 | 5.2 (5.7) | 1,302 | 5.3 (5.7) | ||
aDF, dengue fever; DFHem, DF with hemorrhagic manifestations; DHF, dengue hemorrhagic fever; DSS, dengue shock syndrome; DSAS, dengue with signs associated with shock.
bInformation on the duration of hospitalization was available from 52 (46%) of hospitalized classic DF patients; 95 (40%) of hospitalized DFHem patients; 56 (84%) of hospitalized DHF patients; 15 (94%) of hospitalized DSS patients; and 28 (93%) of hospitalized DSAS patients. Outliers (>12 days) were removed before analysis.
cThe mean duration of hospitalization was significantly longer for DHF cases, DSS cases, and DSAS cases as compared with duration for DFHem cases (p<0.05 for each, Student t test).
dThe mean duration of hospitalization was significantly longer for DSS cases compared with duration for classic DF cases (p<0.05, Student t test).
eThe average glass contains approximately 8 oz.