International Journal of Clinical Trials | April-June 2014 | Vol 1 | Issue 1 Page 27 International Journal of Clinical Trials Mahapatra S et al. Int J Clin Trials. 2014 May;1(1):27-30 http://www.ijclinicaltrials.com pISSN 2349-3240 | eISSN 2349-3259 Research Article Platelet transfusion in a dengue epidemic as per recent WHO classification Smita Mahapatra*, Ansuman Sahu, Dibyajyoti Sahoo, Satyabrata Patjoshi, Pankaj Parida INTRODUCTION Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever have become a global issue in many tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. The incidence has increased affecting 50 million people each year with 500000 cases are hospitalized as Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF). 1 In India though Dengue is endemic in Delhi in the monsoon season, but our study is based on the epidemic emergence of this disease on a huge scale in Odisha. Though dengue is a benign syndrome caused by an arthropod- borne virus and was classified into Dengue Fever (DF), Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) according to WHO bulletin, 1997, it is the bleeding associated in DHF and DSS that is the culprit of high mortality. Bleeding in dengue can be caused due to Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC), hepatic derangement and also due to severe thrombocytopenia. 2 In the present study, the patients have been classified into dengue without warning signs, dengue with warning signs and severe dengue according to the WHO bulletin, 2009. 3 Prophylactic platelet transfusion is recommended in patients with platelet count less than 10000/cumm and platelet transfusion is advised in patients with associated bleeding or hemorrhagic manifestation along with thrombocytopenia (count more than 10000/cumm). 4 The aim of the current study was to evaluate the requirement of platelet transfusion in dengue patients associated with thrombocytopenia and bleeding as opinion on the role of platelet transfusion in the management of dengue patients vary in the medical fraternity. ABSTRACT Background: The objective was to study the role of platelet transfusion in a dengue epidemic as management to the reduced platelet count and associated hemorrhagic manifestations. Methods: The study was conducted for a period of four months over 3115 cases of clinically and serologically positive cases of dengue for non-structural protein antigen (NS 1). Results: The patients diagnosed as dengue fever without warning signs constituted the maximum number of cases 2418 (77.6%) followed by dengue fever with warning signs 667 (21.4%), severe dengue 30 (1.0%). In serologically confirmed cases, only 154 patients had platelet count <10000/cumm. The prevalence of bleeding was reported in 667 cases and platelet was transfused in only 724 cases constituting 508 cases of dengue with warning signs and 30 cases of severe dengue. Conclusion: Prophylactic platelet transfusion can be done in thrombocytopenic patients with platelet count less than 10000/cumm and associated hemorrhagic manifestations with count more the above label. Keywords: Dengue, Platelet, Thrombocytopenia Department of Transfusion Medicine, S.C.B. Medical College, Cuttack, Odisha, India Received: 25 April 2014 Accepted: 8 May 2014 *Correspondence: Dr. Smita Mahapatra, E-mail: doctorsmita@rediffmail.com © 2014 Mahapatra S et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: 10.5455/2349-3259.ijct20140507