Characteristics of children hospitalized with dengue fever in an outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

During a dengue epidemic in Rio de Janeiro in 2007-2008 the Instituto de Puericultura e Pediatria Martagão Gesteira Hospital was a reference for admitted children. The World Health Organization (WHO) considered several manifestations as warning signs of severe dengue This is a retrospective cohort study of all children admitted with dengue fever. Clinical variables considered warning signs by WHO were evaluated in the multivariate analysis, to investigate if they were independently associated with severe dengue. One hundred and eighty one children were admitted, aged from 4 months to 15 years; 30 were classified as severe dengue. Abdominal pain (OR=2.63, 95% CI 1.06-6.53) and lethargy (OR=3.40, 95% CI 1.45-7.99) were independently associated with severe dengue.