Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of different stages of dengue infection on immune cell counts among dengue patients and to compare them with cases of non-dengue febrile illness. METHODS: The recruited patients were divided into two groups: the first group served as a control (n = 55), representing non-dengue febrile illness, and the second group was identified as dengue febrile illness (n = 149), which was further divided into three groups based on infection stage. Blood samples were collected from the selected patients and subjected to blood cell component analysis. To find IgG and IgM as well as the dengue virus non-structural antigen-1 (NS1), an immunochromatographic test (ICT) kit was utilized. Additionally, a hematological analyzer was used to determine complete blood cell counts (CBC). Data was thoroughly analyzed using Graph Pad Prism 6 software. The differences in means of different groups were calculated by applying the student's t-test. RESULTS: The findings revealed the presence of severe leucopenia and thrombocytopenia at stages 1 and 2, accompanied by lymphopenia at stage 1. Group comparisons indicated that only teenagers exhibited a significantly lower white blood cell count compared to older individuals, while no significant differences were observed in lymphocytes, platelets, and monocytes across all age groups. Comparing different age groups of normal individuals to dengue-infected patients, the results unveiled that leucopenia was most severe in adults, followed by teenagers and children, with no significant difference in the elderly. Furthermore, adults showed the greatest degree of thrombocytopenia, followed by teens and kids, with the elderly showing the greatest degree of thrombocytopenia. Adults and teens showed extreme neutrophilia, whereas young children and the elderly showed no discernible abnormalities. Elderly patients experienced a marked decrease in monocyte count, a phenomenon not observed in other age groups. CONCLUSION: In conclusion both, leucopenia & thrombocytopenia, are most severe in stages 1 and 2, whereas neutrophilia & lymphopenia are predominantly severe in stage 1. These results imply that the consequences associated with dengue infection are more severe in the early stages and tend to ameliorate as the patient progresses toward recovery.