Dengue fever natural history, complications and prognosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Dengue fever generally lasts a week or more, and can rarely be complicated by bleeding, febrile convulsions and coma. The prognosis is good. Dengue fever can be life-threatening in people with chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma.

• Dengue fever generally lasts about six to seven days, with a smaller peak of fever at the trailing end of the fever (the so-called “biphasic pattern”). The platelet count will drop until the patient’s temperature is normal.^[1]

Possible complications of Dengue fever include:^[2]

• Acute respiratory failure^[3]
• Bleeding, specially upper gastrointestinal bleeding
• Febrile convulsions
• Neurological:^[4] Central nervous system hemorrhage, coma, encephalitis, encephalomyelitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, myelitis, neuropathy
• Severe dehydration
• Shock

Although uncomfortable, dengue fever is generally not deadly.^[1]. Mortality rates between 0% and 5.4% have been reported.^[5][6] Dengue fever can be life-threatening in people with chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma.