Dengue seropositivity among pediatric patients with repeated acute febrile seizure

Yasri S. Dengue seropositivity among pediatric patients with repeated acute febrile seizure. Adv Trop Med Pub Health Int. 2019; 9: 22 - 26.

ABSTRACT

Fever is a common clinical problem in pediatric practice. Increased body temperature in pediatric patients with fever can be problematic. The diagnosis for the cause of fever is necessary for planning for proper management of the patient. In case with high fever, an important neurological presentation among pediatric patients is seizure. In clinical practice, acute febrile seizure requires good diagnostic approach. Several underlying pathologies can cause acute febrile seizure. In tropical country, tropical infection can cause fever and it can further result in acute febrile seizure in a pediatric patient Of several tropical infections, dengue is a common infection that might cause acute febrile illness and acute febrile seizure. There are some reports regarding the incidence of dengue infection among the pediatric patients presenting with acute febrile seizure Nevertheless, limited reports are available regarding the pediatric patients with repeated acute febrile illness. In the present work, the author retrospectively analyzed the clinical records of overall 60 pediatric patients with repeated acute febrile seizure. The dengue serological test results among these patients are reviewed. Based on the retrospective review, there are 6 cases with dengue seropositivity giving the incidence rate equal to 10 %. The high incidence of dengue seropositivity among the pediatric patients with repeated acute febrile seizure indicates that dengue should be listed in the differential diagnosis for the pediatric patients presenting with repeated acute febrile illness in our settings. Also, the similar consideration can be applied for the other tropical settings.  The dengue serological test is recommended in diagnostic work-up for any pediatric patients, in tropical setting, presenting with repeated acute febrile seizure.

Key words:  dengue, acute, febrile, seizure, repeated, seropositivity