The World Health Organization (WHO) has revised dengue case classification in 2009 to better reflect the severity of the disease. However, there was no comprehensive meta-analysis of pooled routine blood parameters according to the age or the categories of the 2009 WHO classification. This study aimed to meta-analyze the routine blood parameters of dengue infected children and adults. Electronic search was performed with eligible articles included for review. Meta-analysis was conducted for six blood parameters stratified into children, adults and all ages, which were further grouped into the three 2009 WHO case classifications (dengue without warning signs, DwoWS; dengue with warning signs, DwWS; severe dengue, SD), non-severe dengue (non-SD) and 'All' cases. A total of 55 articles were included in the meta-analysis. Fifteen studies were conducted in the children's age category, 31 studies in the adult category and nine studies in all ages. The four selected pooled blood parameters for children were white blood cell (WBC) (×103/L) with 5.11 (SD), 5.64 (DwWS), 5.52 (DwoWS) and 4.68 (Non-SD) hematocrit (HCT) (%) with 36.78 (SD), 40.70 (DwWS), 35.00 (DwoWS) and 29.78 (Non-SD) platelet (PLT) (×103/µL) with 78.66 (SD), 108.01 (DwWS), 153.47 (DwoWS) and 108.29 (non-SD); and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (/µL) with 248.88 (SD), 170.83 (DwWS), 83.24 (DwoWS) and 102.99 (non-SD). For adult, WBC were 4.96 (SD), 6.44 (DwWS), 7.74 (DwoWS) and 3.61 (non-SD); HCT were 39.50 (SD), 39.00 (DwWS), 37.45 (DwoWS) and 41.68 (non-SD); PLT were 49.62 (SD), 96.60 (DwWS), 114.37 (DwoWS) and 71.13 (non-SD); and AST were 399.50 (SD), 141.01 (DwWS), 96.19 (DwoWS) and 118.13 (non-SD). These blood parameters could not differentiate between each dengue severity according to the WHO 2009 classification, SD, DwoWS, DwWS and non-SD, because the timing of blood drawing was not known and there was an overlapping confidence interval among the clinical classification. Hence, these pooled blood parameter values could not be used to guide clinicians in management and did not correlate with severity as in previous scientific literatures and guidelines.
An. culicifacies is the major vector of malaria in tribal community and tribal dominated areas in India. Development of resistance to insecticides is the major challenge to curb the transmission. Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) is a tribal district in central India where incidence of malaria increased from 2012 to 2015 despite indoor space spray with synthetic pyrethroids. To determine the susceptibility status of An. culicifacies against commonly used insecticides in public health program in Gadchiroli. standard WHO method and test kit were used. The insecticide impregnated papers were procured from vector control unit Malaysia. An. culicifacies found resistance to three major groups of pesticides i.e. organochlorine (DDT 4%), organophosphorous (Malathion 5%) and pyrethroids (Cyfluthrin 0.15%, Deltametherin 0.05% and Lambdacyhalothrin 0.05%). The susceptibility status in Permethrin 0.75% needs further confirmation. Development of resistance to different insecticides of varied groups is an adverse finding for the elimination of malaria, explaining the recent increase in malaria incidence in Gadchiroli. The phenomenon further needs to be studied in different locations and the susceptibility needs to test against other insecticides. The findings may have significant implications to the choice of insecticides in the malaria control program in tribal areas.
This study aimed to evaluate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pentraxin 3 (PTX-3) as predictive and diagnostic markers in differentiating severe dengue from non-severe dengue. The study was conducted in Ampang Health Clinic, Ampang Hospital and Serdang Hospital. The plasma levels of VEGF and PTX-3 were compared between severe dengue and non-severe dengue by ELISA from the day of presentation until discharged. Multiple logistic regression was used to develop predictive and diagnostic models by incorporating other clinical parameters. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was used to assess the accuracy of the biomarkers and the developed models. Eighty-two patients were recruited, 29 with severe dengue and four died. The Area Under the Curve (AUC) was statistically significant in VEGF as diagnostic marker at Day 2 and 3 of illness with sensitivity of 80.00%-100.00% and specificity of 76.47%-80.00%. The predictive model with AUC of 0.84 (p