Clinical Profile and Role of Haematological Parameters in the Prognosis of Dengue Fever Patients Admitted in a Tertiary Hospital

Introduction: Even after the discovery of vaccines for denguefever, it remains a major public health problem in developingtropical and subtropical countries, especially in India. Thedengue fever has a varied clinical spectrum ranging from a mildheadache to severe organ impairment or bleeding, dependingon the virulence and susceptibility of the individual. Thecurrent study investigated the clinical profile of laboratoryconfirmed dengue patients. A secondary objective was to findthe role of haematological parameters in prognosis.Material and Methods: This was a retrospective studyconducted in a tertiary care hospital at Madurai following adengue fever outbreak between August 2017 to November2017 among laboratory-confirmed dengue patients older than16 years. All the relevant clinical and laboratory investigationdetails of the patients were obtained from the medical recordsof the hospital.Results: Fever was present in all the cases with an averageduration of 4.86 ± 1.59 days followed by myalgia (57.39%),vomiting (46.96%), headache (30.43%) and abdominal pain(20%). Bleeding and hepatic complication was presented by22.16% and 50.43%. The mean platelet recovery duration was8.42 ± 1.74 days. A strong positive correlation between day ofrecovery (increasing trend of platelet) from the onset of feverand WBC recovery (rs value: 0.0.713, P value: <0.001) wasobserved.Conclusion: Dengue fever patients have varied clinicalfeatures varying from fever to severe hepatic complication.For assessing the prognosis of dengue fever, along with thecontinuous monitoring of clinical profile and platelet count,evaluation of WBC recovery is also recommended.

Antinociceptive and anti-pyretic activity of benincase hispida [thumb] cogn. in wistar albino rats

The seeds of Benincasa hispida [Thunb] COGN. [Family: Cucurbitaceae] was extracted with ethanol and was used to study acute toxicity, antinociceptive and anti-pyretic effects. Brewer's yeast [15%] was used to induce pyrexia in rats. The extract was non lethal to the rats up to the dose of 5000 mg/kg b.w. At doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg b.w, the extract significantly [P<0.05] increased the antinociceptive effective in a dose dependent manner in rats. Similarly, at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg b.w the extract significantly [P<0.05] decreased yeastinduced pyrexia in rats. These results indicate that ethanolic extract of Benincasa hispida possesses potent antinociceptive and antipyretic effects and thus pharmacologically justifying its folkloric use in the management of fever and pain conditions