RESUMEN
Background: The objective of this study is to find out the proportion of children with thrombocytopenia in acute encephalitis syndrome (AES); second, to compare the aetiology of AES in thrombocytopenic cases with non-thrombocytopenic cases; and finally, to find out clinical and laboratory predictors of thrombocytopenia in AES, as well as to study platelet aggregation and compare it in both scrub positive and scrub negative AES cases.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted on 176 children with presumed viral aetiology were investigated to find out the cause of AES.Results: The majority of patients presented with thrombocytopenia. The most common aetiologies are Japanese encephalitis (JE). No significant difference was observed in the aetiology of AES between the thrombocytopenic and non-thrombocytopenic groups. Rash, bleeding, swelling, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly were significantly more common in thrombocytopenic AES cases. Among the laboratory parameters, haemoglobin, PCV, and serum protein were found to be significantly low in the thrombocytopenic group. Liver enzymes, serum AST, and serum ALT were significantly high in the thrombocytopenic group. Platelet aggregation percentage was found to be significantly high in AES children who were positive for scrub typhus in comparison to other AES cases. Eighty-seven patients were discharged from the hospital. The mortality rate was 18%. There was no significant difference in the outcome of AES cases in relation to thrombocytopenia.Conclusions: This approach may help clinicians in the diagnosis of AES due to the scrub along with other tests available. There was no significant difference in the short-term outcome of AES cases in relation to thrombocytopenia.