Fasting Lipid Profile as a Predictor of Mortality and Morbidity in Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever

BACKGROUND Dengue is a tropical disease which is a major cause of preventable mortality. It is essential to identify people who are at risk for progression to dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. Hence the search for an optimal biomarker which can identify patients at risk of progression to severe dengue is on. Some studies have indicated hypolipidemia to be a marker for the identification of critically ill patients. This study intended to find out the relationship between fasting lipid profile and dengue mortality and morbidity. METHODS This was a comparative cross-sectional study conducted for 1 year at a Government hospital setup with a sample size of 132. RESULTS Out of the 132 patients, all patients had bleeding manifestations ranging from purpuric rashes to melena. 92 patients had capillary leak syndrome and 52 patients developed shock. Most of the patients who developed bleeding manifestations, capillary leakage and shock were found to have hypocholestrolemia and HDL<50mg/dl. CONCLUSIONS It can be concluded that serum fasting lipid profile is an easily accessible and affordable indicator for early identification of patients at risk of progression to severe dengue.