Dengue patients at greater risk of acute cholecystitis and acute pancreatitis during first month

This study, “Risks of Acute Cholecystitis, Acute Pancreatitis, and Acute Appendicitis in Patients with Dengue Fever: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan”, is led by Dr Hsin-I Shih and colleagues.

Previous research has well-documented acute cholecystitis, acute pancreatitis, and acute appendicitis following dengue virus infections. There needs to be more data from large-scale studies determining the post-dengue risk of acute abdominal conditions.

The patients included had laboratory-confirmed dengue from 2002 to 2015 in Taiwan. The key results of the study are:

• Sixty-five thousand six hundred ninety-four individuals with dengue, and 262,776 were without dengue.
• Within the first 30 days of postinfection, there was an increased risk of acute cholecystitis and acute pancreatitis in dengue patients, with incident rates of 18.79 and 5.27 per 10,000
• After this period, there was no increased risk.
• There was no increased risk of acute appendicitis among patients with acute dengue infection.

Concluding further, they said, This study was the first large epidemiological study that has shown significantly increased risk of acute cholecystitis and pancreatitis among dengue patients during the acute phase of dengue infection.

Identifying acute cholecystitis and pancreatitis in dengue patients early is vital to prevent complications.

Study strengths were a large number of patients, no selection bias, and a reduced chance of false-positive findings.

The limitations were misclassification, non-availability of detailed medical records, etc.

Further reading:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40121-023-00821-1