Characteristics and risk factors for fatality in patients with dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, Taiwan, 2014

Abstract

An unprecedented dengue outbreak involving more than 15,000 infections, including 136 dengue hemor-rhagic fever (DHF) cases and 20 fatalities, occurred in Taiwan in 2014. The median age of the DHF cases was 71 years (range: 4-92 years) and most of them (N = 100, 73.5%) had comorbidities, of which the majority were hypertension (56%) and diabetes mellitus (DM; 27%). Only approximately half of the DHF cases (59/136) were classified as severe dengue, based on the 2009 WHO-revised dengue classification. The fatality rate for this DHF outbreak was 14.7%. DM (odds ratio [OR] = 3.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.22-10.63) and presentation with severe plasma leakage (OR = 6.42, 95% CI = 1.76-23.63) were independent risk factors for fatality.