Study of Correlation of Serum Calcium Level with Disease Severity in Dengue Patients.

Dengue fever is the world's fastest growing vector borne viral disease. Dengue infection has high morbidity and mortality unless managed promptly and appropriately. Calcium regulates many physiological processes such as neuromuscular transmission, heart contractility, hormonal release, blood coagulation and is essential for cell function. Low calcium level is present in almost 80% of dengue cases and is more associated with severe cases. Hypocalcemia enhances the binding of the dengue virus to monocyte macrophages and cells of T cell and B cell lineages in dengue infection. However, there is scarcity of literature on calcium homeostasis in dengue infection, and current guidelines do not address the necessity to monitor or correct blood calcium levels in dengue patients. In present study, we evaluated serum calcium level in dengue patients and correlated it with disease severity. MATERIAL: The present observational cross-sectional study conducted in the Department of Medicine and Biochemistry, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, included 60 patients of dengue infection, satisfying the inclusion and exclusion criteria over a period of 18 months. Inclusion criteria were patients with age above 12 years, any gender, and diagnosed as having dengue infection, either by NS1Ag or by IgM ELISA for dengue antibodies, were clinically classified as Dengue Fever (DF), Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF), and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) as per National Guidelines for Clinical Management of Dengue Fever developed by NVBDCP. Exclusion criteria were patients with diseases like hypertension, diabetes, cardiac disease, liver disease, malabsorption syndrome, renal dysfunction and patients taking drugs causing hypocalcemia and oral calcium and vitamin D supplements. In present study, serum calcium level used was corrected for hypoalbuminemia. OBSERVATION: The mean age was 27 years with a male and female ratio of approximately 3:2. The present study shows that the mean serum calcium level (mg/dL) of patients in Dengue Fever, Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever and Dengue Shock Syndrome was 8.85, 8.27 and 7.95 respectively(p<0.0001). Serum calcium level was lower in DSS and DHF patients than DF patients. Negative correlation between severity of dengue infection and serum calcium level was found with correlation coefficient of -0.892. CONCLUSION: The present study revealed significant negative correlation between Serum calcium level and severity of dengue infection. Therefore, it can be considered to use serum calcium level as a potential biomarker in order to identify severe dengue patients and this investigation will help in early identification, diagnosis and management of dengue infection but further studies are required to support this.

Diagnóstico presuntivo de dengue en pacientes con fiebre y serología reactiva ingresados en un hospital pediátrico / Presumptive diagnosis of dengue in patients with fever and reactive serology admitted in a pediatric hospital

Se realizó un estudio descriptivo transversal de 1 819 pacientes con fiebre y serología reactiva, ingresados en el Hospital Infantil Dr Antonio María Béguez César de Santiago de Cuba por diagnóstico presuntivo de dengue, desde enero de 2015 hasta diciembre de 2016, de quienes se extrajeron muestras de suero en el Departamento de Microbiología de la mencionada institución, las cuales fueron enviadas al laboratorio del Instituto de Medicina Tropical Dr Pedro Kourí de La Habana para su procesamiento y posible confirmación. En la casuística se obtuvo una positividad de 54,3 por ciento, así como predominio de los niños mayores de 5 años con 1 451, de los procedentes del municipio de Santiago de Cuba con 1 651, de la fiebre en 847 y de la ocurrencia de la infección durante el trimestre octubre-noviembre en 864(AU)

A descriptive cross-sectional study of 1 819 patients with fever and reactive serology, admitted in Dr Antonio María Béguez Caesar Pediatric Hospital in Santiago de Cuba was carried out through presumptive diagnosis of dengue from January, 2015 to December, 2016, from whom samples of serum were obtained in the Microbiology Department of the above-mentioned institution, which were sent to the laboratory of Dr Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute in Havana for their processing and possible confirmation. A 54,3 percent of positive cases was obtained in the case material, as well as the prevalence of children older than 5 years with 1 451, those coming from Santiago de Cuba municipality were 1 651, those with fever were 847 and those with occurrence of the infection during the trimester October-November were 864(AU)

Diagnóstico presuntivo de dengue en pacientes con fiebre y serología reactiva ingresados en un hospital pediátrico / Presumptive diagnosis of dengue in patients with fever and reactive serology admitted in a pediatric hospital

Se realizó un estudio descriptivo transversal de 1 819 pacientes con fiebre y serología reactiva, ingresados en el Hospital Infantil Dr Antonio María Béguez César de Santiago de Cuba por diagnóstico presuntivo de dengue, desde enero de 2015 hasta diciembre de 2016, de quienes se extrajeron muestras de suero en el Departamento de Microbiología de la mencionada institución, las cuales fueron enviadas al laboratorio del Instituto de Medicina Tropical Dr Pedro Kourí de La Habana para su procesamiento y posible confirmación. En la casuística se obtuvo una positividad de 54,3 por ciento, así como predominio de los niños mayores de 5 años con 1 451, de los procedentes del municipio de Santiago de Cuba con 1 651, de la fiebre en 847 y de la ocurrencia de la infección durante el trimestre octubre-noviembre en 864.

A descriptive cross-sectional study of 1 819 patients with fever and reactive serology, admitted in Dr Antonio María Béguez Caesar Pediatric Hospital in Santiago de Cuba was carried out through presumptive diagnosis of dengue from January, 2015 to December, 2016, from whom samples of serum were obtained in the Microbiology Department of the above-mentioned institution, which were sent to the laboratory of Dr Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute in Havana for their processing and possible confirmation. A 54,3 percent of positive cases was obtained in the case material, as well as the prevalence of children older than 5 years with 1 451, those coming from Santiago de Cuba municipality were 1 651, those with fever were 847 and those with occurrence of the infection during the trimester October-November were 864.

Dengue illness index-A tool to characterize the subjective dengue illness experience.

Dengue virus infections are a major cause of febrile illness that significantly affects individual and societal productivity and drives up health care costs principally in the developing world. Two dengue vaccine candidates are in advanced clinical efficacy trials in Latin America and Asia, and another has been licensed in more than fifteen countries but its uptake has been limited. Despite these advances, standardized metrics for comparability of protective efficacy between dengue vaccines remain poorly defined. The Dengue Illness Index (DII) is a tool that we developed thru refinement of previous similar iterations in an attempt to improve and standardize the measurement of vaccine and drug efficacy in reducing moderate dengue illness. The tool is designed to capture an individual's overall disease experience based on how the totality of their symptoms impacts their general wellness and daily functionality. We applied the DII to a diary card, the Dengue Illness Card (DIC), which was examined and further developed by a working group. The card was then refined with feedback garnered from a Delphi methodology-based query that addressed the adequacy and applicability of the tool in clinical dengue research. There was overall agreement that the tool would generate useful data and provide an alternative perspective to the assessment of drug or vaccine candidates, which in the case of vaccines, are assessed by their reduction in any virologically confirmed dengue of any severity with a focus on the more severe. The DIC needs to be evaluated in the field in the context of vaccine or drug trials, prospective cohort studies, or during experimental human infection studies. Here, we present the final DIC resulting from the Delphi process and offer its further development or use to the dengue research community.

Preclinical Antiviral Testing for Dengue Virus Infection in Mouse Models and Its Association with Clinical Studies.

At present, there is no licensed antiviral drug against dengue virus (DENV) infection. Mouse models of DENV infection have been widely used for preclinical evaluation of antivirals. However, only in a few instances so far have the data obtained from preclinical mouse model testing been associated with data from clinical studies in humans. In this Review, we focus on the antiviral drugs targeting viral replication that have been tested in animals/humans and discuss how preclinical drug evaluation in suitable mouse/animal models may be more fruitfully used to inform early phase clinical testing.

Tropical diseases in the ICU: A syndromic approach to diagnosis and treatment.

Tropical infections form 20-30% of ICU admissions in tropical countries. Diarrheal diseases, malaria, dengue, typhoid, rickettsial diseases and leptospirosis are common causes of critical illness. Overlapping clinical features makes initial diagnosis challenging. A systematic approach involving (1) history of specific continent or country of travel, (2) exposure to specific environments (forests or farms, water sports, consumption of exotic foods), (3) incubation period, and (4) pattern of organ involvement and subtle differences in manifestations help in differential diagnosis and choice of initial empiric therapy. Fever, rash, hypotension, thrombocytopenia and mild derangement of liver function tests is seen in a majority of patients. Organ failure may lead to shock, respiratory distress, renal failure, hepatitis, coma, seizures, cardiac arrhythmias or hemorrhage. Diagnosis in some conditions is made by peripheral blood smear examination, antigen detection or detection of microbial nucleic acid by PCR. Tests that detect specific IgM antibody become positive only in the second week of illness. Initial therapy is often empiric; a combination of intravenous artesunate, ceftriaxone and either doxycycline or azithromycin would cover a majority of the treatable syndromes. Additional antiviral or antiprotozoal medications are required for some specific syndromes. Involving a physician specializing in tropical or travel medicine is helpful.

The use of longitudinal cohorts for studies of dengue viral pathogenesis and protection.

In this review, we describe how longitudinal prospective community-based, school-based, and household-based cohort studies contribute to improving our knowledge of viral disease, focusing specifically on contributions to understanding and preventing dengue. We describe how longitudinal cohorts enable measurement of essential disease parameters and risk factors; provide insights into biological correlates of protection and disease risk; enable rapid application of novel biological and statistical technologies; lead to development of new interventions and inform vaccine trial design; serve as sentinels in outbreak conditions and facilitate development of critical diagnostic assays; enable holistic studies on disease in the context of other infections, comorbidities, and environmental risk factors; and build research capacity that strengthens national and global public health response and disease surveillance.

Combinaciones más frecuentes y características clínicas y de estudios complementarios de pacientes pediátricos con dengue / Most common symptom combinations, clinical features and supplementary test characteristics of pediatric patients with dengue

Introducción: el dengue es una enfermedad viral, con un amplio espectro clínico.Objetivos: describir las características clínicas y de laboratorio, y determinar las combinaciones de síntomas y signos más frecuentes halladas en pacientes pediátricos con sospecha de dengue, internados en el Hospital Docente Pediátrico del Cerro.Métodos: se realizó un estudio analítico, transversal, retrospectivo, a un universo de 1 300 pacientes ingresados entre enero y diciembre de 2012, con una muestra de 260 enfermos. Se estudiaron las variables síntomas y signos, además se hallaron las medianas de los valores de laboratorio hematócrito, conteo leucocitario y plaquetario. Se establecieron asociaciones predictivas de tener dengue según grupo de edades, para lo cual se determinó odds ratio (OR).Resultados: los síntomas más frecuente estuvieron representados por: cefalea, artromialgias, dolor retroocular y rash; los complementarios solo mostraron tendencia a la leucopenia. Las combinaciones predictivas de dengue halladas fueron: fiebre, exantema y prueba del lazo positiva en todas las edades. La fiebre, exantema y artromialgias para adolescentes (OR= 28,7; IC 95 por ciento 3,98-58,3; p= 0,0001) y escolares (OR= 13,32; IC 95 por ciento 1,74-28,0; p= 0,0001); mientras que la fiebre, cefalea, dolor retroocular y exantema en el grupo adolescentes (OR= 9,57; IC 95 por ciento; 3,63-26,85; p= 0,00001).Conclusiones: en este estudio la clínica varía con la edad, sin incluir síntomas respiratorios, no así los análisis. La asociación de síntomas y signos deben ser tenidas en cuenta de acuerdo con los grupos de edad, y resultaron semejantes los encontrados en los adolescentes con lo reportado en adultos(AU)

Combinaciones más frecuentes y características clínicas y de estudios complementarios de pacientes pediátricos con dengue / Most common symptom combinations, clinical features and supplementary test characteristics of pediatric

Introducción: el dengue es una enfermedad viral, con un amplio espectro clínico. Objetivos: describir las características clínicas y de laboratorio, y determinar las combinaciones de síntomas y signos más frecuentes halladas en pacientes pediátricos con sospecha de dengue, internados en el Hospital Docente Pediátrico del Cerro. Métodos: se realizó un estudio analítico, transversal, retrospectivo, a un universo de 1 300 pacientes ingresados entre enero y diciembre de 2012, con una muestra de 260 enfermos. Se estudiaron las variables síntomas y signos, además se hallaron las medianas de los valores de laboratorio hematócrito, conteo leucocitario y plaquetario. Se establecieron asociaciones predictivas de tener dengue según grupo de edades, para lo cual se determinó odds ratio (OR). Resultados: los síntomas más frecuente estuvieron representados por: cefalea, artromialgias, dolor retroocular y rash; los complementarios solo mostraron tendencia a la leucopenia. Las combinaciones predictivas de dengue halladas fueron: fiebre, exantema y prueba del lazo positiva en todas las edades. La fiebre, exantema y artromialgias para adolescentes (OR= 28,7; IC 95 por ciento 3,98-58,3; p= 0,0001) y escolares (OR= 13,32; IC 95 por ciento 1,74-28,0; p= 0,0001); mientras que la fiebre, cefalea, dolor retroocular y exantema en el grupo adolescentes (OR= 9,57; IC 95 por ciento; 3,63-26,85; p= 0,00001). Conclusiones: en este estudio la clínica varía con la edad, sin incluir síntomas respiratorios, no así los análisis. La asociación de síntomas y signos deben ser tenidas en cuenta de acuerdo con los grupos de edad, y resultaron semejantes los encontrados en los adolescentes con lo reportado en adultos(AU)

Introduction: dengue is a viral disease of broad clinical spectrum. Objectives: to describe the clinical and laboratory characteristics, and to determine the most common sign and symptom combinations found in pediatric patients suspected of dengue, who had been admitted to the teaching pediatric hospital in Cerro municipality. Methods: a retrospective, cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted in a sample of 260 patients from a universe of 1 300 patients admitted to hospital from January to December 2012. The study variables were symptoms and signs in addition to estimating the medians of hematocrit, leukocyte and platelet count values at lab. Predictive associations of having dengue were set according to age groups for which odds ratios were determined. Results: the most frequent symptoms were headache, arthromyalgias, retroocular pain and rash whereas the supplementary tests just showed tendency to leucopenia. The predictive combinations for dengue were fever, exanthema and positive tourniquet test at all ages; fever, exanthema and arthromyalgias for adolescents(OR= 28.7; 95 percent CI 3.98-58,3; p= 0.0001) and schoolchildren (OR= 13.32; 95 percent CI 1.74-28.0; p= 0.0001) and fever, headache, retroocular pain and exanthema for the adolescent group (OR= 9.57; IC 95 percent; 3.63-26.85; p= 0.00001). Conclusions: in this study, the clinical characteristics vary with the age, excluding the respiratory symptoms, but it is not the same in the supplementary tests. The associations of symptoms and signs should be taken into account depending on the age group and those found in adolescents were similar to the ones reported in adults(AU)

Diagnostic dilemma-dengue or Japanese encephalitis?

Dengue and Japanese encephalitis (JE) are arboviral diseases that are common in the tropical countries. JE virus is a classical neurotropic virus. The dengue virus, however, is usually not considered to be neurotropic, even though in recent years, reports of direct central nervous system involvement in dengue has been described. Here, we report a case wherein the patient had magnetic resonance imaging evidence of bilateral thalamic and brainstem involvement with positive serologies for both dengue and JE. We also discuss the diagnostic challenge in these cases.

Low sensitivity of the tourniquet test for differential diagnosis of dengue: an analysis of 28,000 trials in patients.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of the tourniquet test (TT) for dengue diagnosing. To our knowledge, no previous study with such a large sample, of this duration, with as many laboratory methods referenced, or relating the results of the TT to the 2009 WHO classification of severity has been conducted thus far. METHODS: In this study, we analyzed the records of 119,589 suspected dengue cases in a Brazilian city, with 30,670 confirmed cases. The Cohen's Kappa test was applied to evaluate the degree of agreement between the tests, and the sensitivity and specificity was calculated for the TT. RESULTS: Twenty-eight thousand six hundred thirty-five TT were performed. No association between the outcome of the TT and greater severity of infection, according to the 2009 guideline, was observed (P = 0.28); furthermore, relevant agreement with the final diagnosis (κ = 0.01; 95 % CI = 0.00 to 0.02) or individually with the IgM enzyme-linked immunoassay was not observed (κ = 0.05; 95 % CI = 0.04 to 0.06), and was even lower with PCR (κ = 0.27; 95 % CI = 0.06 to 0.49). Most importance of the TT was shown in relation to specificity (88.9 %; 95 % CI = 0.88 to 0.89) and negative predictive value (70.3 %; CI 95 % = 0.70 to 0.71). CONCLUSIONS: TT was more effective in detecting cases that were truly negative than positive. These results suggest that the TT should not be used as diagnosis of dengue.

Gloriosa superba poisoning mimicking an acute infection- a case report.

BACKGROUND: Gloriosa superba (GSb) is a highly poisonous plant and its toxicity is due to anti-mitotic effects of constituents such as colchicine and gloriosine on rapidly proliferating cells. Poisoning is known to cause very rapid and severe clinical manifestations due gastro intestinal, neurological, cardiac and bone marrow toxicity. CASE PRESENTATION: A young male presented with an acute onset febrile illness associated with diarrhoea, confusion, haematuria and aggressive behavior of 4 days duration. He developed subconjunctival haemorrhages, bleeding gums, neck stiffness, bilateral papilloedema, tender hepatomegaly and features suggestive of subacute intestinal obstruction. He had progressive reduction in white cell counts, platelets and derrangements in liver functions. The illness mimicked acute severe leptospirosis or dengue. On day 9 of illness he started to loose his hair and was totally alopecic by day 14. At this stage of illness, possibility of GSb poisoning was suspected. He admitted the act of self harm after repeated questioning. CONCLUSION: His presentation mimicked an acute severe tropical febrile illness such as leptospirosis or dengue until he started to loose his hair. Therefore we feel that Clinicians practicing in tropical setting where Gloriosa superba is endemic should be aware of its clinical presentations and should always consider the possibility of ingestion of Gloriosa superba when the patient has pancytopenia and develops shedding of hairs which results in total alopecia in a case of unexplained gastroenterocolitis, rather investigating.

Manifestações clínicas na dengue: diagnóstico laboratorial / Clinical manifestations in dengue: laboratory diagnosis

A dengue é uma doença infecciosa de evolução aguda, transmitida por vírus (RNA vírus). Infecta o homem através da picada do inseto fêmea Aedes aegypti. Seus sinais e sintomas são variáveis, com formas oligossintomáticas, formas clássicas (febris) e formas graves hemorrágicas, podendo até apresentar síndrome cardiovascular hipovolêmica. O diagnóstico envolve critérios clínico-laboratoriais. O diagnóstico sorológico tem fundamental importância na classificação de infecção primária ou secundária, já que a dengue hemorrágica surge com maior frequência nas infecções secundárias. O isolamento do vírus é geralmente realizado para fins de pesquisa ou epidemiológicos. As epidemias ocorrem principalmente no verão, durante ou após períodos chuvosos.

The dengue is an infectious disease of acute evolution transmitted by virus (RNA virus), infecting humans through the bite of the Aedes aegypti female insect. Presenting signs and symptoms variables with oligosymptomatic forms, classical forms (fever) and severe hemorrhagic form (DHF), this can lead to cardiovascular hypovolemic syndrome. The diagnoses of dengue disease involves clinical and laboratory criteria. Serological diagnosis has fundamental importance in the classification of primary or secondary infection, since DHF appears most often in secondary infections.Virus isolation is usually carried out for research or epidemiological studies. Epidemics occur mainly in the summer, during or after rainy periods.

Clinical implications and treatment of dengue.

Dengue is a common pathogenic disease often proving fatal, more commonly affecting the tropics. Aedes mosquito is the vector for this disease, and outbreaks of dengue often cause mass damage to life. The current review is an effort to present an insight into the causes, etiology, symptoms, transmission, diagnosis, major organs affected, mitigation and line of treatment of this disease with special emphasis on drugs of natural origin. The disease has a potential to spread as an endemic, often claiming several lives and thus requires concerted efforts to work out better treatment options. Traditional medicine offers an alternative solution and could be explored as a safer treatment option. Development of a successful vaccine and immunization technique largely remains a challenge and a better antiviral approach needs to be worked out to complement the supportive therapy. No single synthetic molecule has found to be wholly effective enough to offer curative control and the line of treatment mostly utilizes a combination of fluid replacement and antipyretics-analgesics like molecules to provide symptomatic relief.

Dengue virus detection using impedance measured across nanoporous alumina membrane.

The prevalence of dengue around the world makes it critical to develop a simple diagnostic device that can be easily handled by end users and provides fast results. In this paper, we described the use of a small and thin piece of alumina membrane, 60 µm thick and 13 mm in diameter as the sensing platform for the detection of dengue infection. The electrochemical setup is simplified by using the membrane as both the working and the counter electrode. This is achieved by coating both sides of the membrane with a submicron layer of platinum. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was utilized for the characterization of the immunosensor as well as the acquisition of data. The change in the pore resistance of the membrane displayed a good correlation with the concentration of the dengue 2 and dengue 3 viruses in plaque forming unit (PFU mL⁻¹), giving detection limit of 0.230 PFU mL⁻¹ and 0.710 PFU mL⁻¹ respectively. This thin piece of membrane sensor, coupled with the simple electrochemical setup, fast detection time of 40 min and high sensitivity, showed potential to be developed into a disposable point-of-care diagnostic tool for clinical uses.

Dengue y paludismo en un mismo paciente / Dengue and malaria in the same patient

Fundamento: la epidemia de dengue es un problema de la actualidad en muchos países, que obliga a los sistemas de asistencia sanitaria a estar en constante vigilancia. Presentación de caso: se presenta una paciente de 11 años de edad que presenta fiebre alta, molestar general y dolor de cabeza. En su evolución llamó la atención la no mejoría clínica de su estado físico, un discreto tinte ictérico con orinas colúricas así como punta de bazo palpable. Conclusiones: es importante realizar el diagnóstico diferencial en un síndrome febril agudo aunque se tenga un diagnóstico clínico epidemiológico de dengue, especialmente con el paludismo, incorporando la gota gruesa a los exámenes complementarios de urgencia(AU)

Background: The epidemic of dengue is currently a problem in many countries which compels the systems of sanitary attendance to be in constant surveillance. Case presentation: An 11 year old female white patient came to the casualty department complaining of high fever, headache and general malaise. Her follow up called the attention for she did not improve her physical state, there was a discrete icteric dye with colored urines and the tip of the spleen was palpable. Conclusion: It is important to make a differential diagnosis, it is an acute febrile syndrome though it has a clinical epidemiological diagnosis of dengue, especially with malaria embodying thick blood smear when ordering urgent laboratory tests(AU)

[Cultural dimensions concerning healthcare workers in México and Colombia having dengue]. / Dimensiones culturales sobre el Dengue en profesionales de la salud de México y Colombia.

OBJECTIVE: Understanding cultural dimensions concerning Mexican and Colombian healthcare workers suffering from dengue to produce information and elements for healthcare and prevention. METHOD: This was a cognitive anthropological study. Purposive sampling was used to select 197 healthcare workers in Morelia, Mexico, and Santiago de Cali, Colombia; free associations lists and pile sorting were used. Terms associated with the concept of dengue and conceptual dimension groups were investigated. RESULTS: Participants cultural conceptions regarding dengue in Mexico emphasised prevention, whilst those in Colombia concentrated on biomedical language and symptoms. Overall, a holistic vision was shown which included a medical vision and related social aspects. CONCLUSIONS: Health professionals require more information about dengue and its prevention.

Development of an electrochemical membrane-based nanobiosensor for ultrasensitive detection of dengue virus.

A sensitive membrane-based electrochemical nanobiosensor is developed for the detection of dengue type 2 virus (DENV-2) using nanoporous alumina-modified platinum electrode. Its sensing mechanism relies on the monitoring of electrode's Faradaic current response toward redox probe, ferrocenemethanol, which is sensitive toward the formation of immune complexes within the alumina nanochannels. Anti-DENV-2 monoclonal antibody (clone 3H5, isotype IgG) is used as the biorecognition element in this work. The stepwise additions of antibody, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and DENV-2 are characterized by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). A low detection limit of 1 pfu mL(-1) with linear range from 1 to 10(3) pfu mL(-1) (R(2)=0.98) can be achieved by the nanobiosensor. The nanobiosensor is selective toward DENV-2 with insignificant cross reaction with non-specific viruses, Chikungunya virus, West Nile virus and dengue type 3 virus (DENV-3). Relative standard deviation (RSD) for triplicate analysis of 5.9% indicates an acceptable level of reproducibility. The first direct quantitation of DENV-2 concentration in whole mosquito vector is demonstrated using this electrochemical nanobiosensor.

Dimensiones culturales sobre el Dengue en profesionales de la salud de México y Colombia / Cultural dimensions concerning healthcare workers in México and Colombia having dengue

Objetivo Comprender las dimensiones culturales del dengue en profesionales de la salud de México y Colombia. A fin de generar elementos para la formación y actualización de los éstos en la prevención y atención de dicha enfermedad. Método Estudio antropológico cognitivo. Realizado en las ciudades de Morelia, México y Santiago de Cali, Colombia. Participaron un total de 197 profesionales de salud seleccionados por muestreo propositivo. Se utilizaron las técnicas de listados libres y el sorteo de montones. Se indagaron términos asociados al concepto dengue y grupos de dimensiones conceptuales. Resultados Las concepciones culturales del dengue en los participantes de México hicieron énfasis en la prevención. Los de Colombia mostraron un lenguaje biomédico y su interés se centró en la sintomatología. En general se mostró una visión integral del dengue que incluye la visión médica y aspectos sociales interrelacionados. Conclusiones Los profesionales de la salud requieren de mayor formación en torno al tema del dengue y su prevención.

Objective Understanding cultural dimensions concerning Mexican and Colombian healthcare workers suffering from dengue to produce information and elements for healthcare and prevention. Method This was a cognitive anthropological study. Purposive sampling was used to select 197 healthcare workers in Morelia, Mexico, and Santiago de Cali, Colombia; free associations lists and pile sorting were used. Terms associated with the concept of dengue and conceptual dimension groups were investigated. Results Participants cultural conceptions regarding dengue in Mexico emphasised prevention, whilst those in Colombia concentrated on biomedical language and symptoms. Overall, a holistic vision was shown which included a medical vision and related social aspects. Conclusions Health professionals require more information about dengue and its prevention.