Prevalence of Concurrent Infections among Tropical Fevers in Pediatric Population-A Hospital Based Study - Abstract
Introduction: Concurrent infections among tropical fevers like Dengue, Scrub typhus, Malaria, Chikungunya, Enteric fever and Leptospirosis have recently been recognized as an
emerging problem. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of concurrent infections among above mentioned tropical fevers in children hospitalized in an apex
medical centre in North India and to correlate the epidemiology and therapeutic outcomes.
Methods: This hospital based retrospective study was conducted over a period of 6 months, from June 2019 to December 2019. The clinical records of 126 patients who had
been admitted in paediatric wards with tropical fevers were retrieved and investigated for the presence of concurrent infections.
Results: Twenty six out of 126 patients were found to have different coinfections. The most common coinfection was Enteric fever with Malaria in eight patients while coinfection
of Malaria and Scrub typhus was reported in six patients. Coinfections of Dengue with Malaria and Dengue along with Enteric fever were recorded in three patients. Whereas
Dengue and Scrub typhus and Dengue with Chikungunya were observed in two (2) and one (1) patient respectively. Scrub typhus along with Enteric fever coinfection was observed in
two (2) patients. Triple infection of Scrub typhus, Dengue and Plasmodium vivax Malaria was detected in one (1) patient. Thrombocytopenia, hepatitis and shock were the frequently
noted complications in this study.
Conclusions: Dengue, Scrub typhus, Malaria, Chikungunya and Enteric fever were the major aetiologies of tropical fevers which existed as coinfections. This resulted in the
increase in severity of these infections along with different complications. Point of care testing for these infections greatly aids in the early diagnosis with significantly improved
outcome.