Dengue Outbreak 2012: Geo Mapping and Snapshot of Clinical Course from a Tertiary Referral Center in South India.

BACKGROUND: Using technology to track endemic areas of communicable diseases is possible nowadays. Effectual use of such facilities, especially in developing countries, will increase earlier detection of cases as well as aid in the formulation of effective prevention strategies.

METHODS: A retrospective data analysis was carried out by collecting the details of patients presented with positive dengue serology, during the outbreak season in the second half of 2012, at Kovai Medical Center and Hospital, Coimbatore, India. Clinical variables were analysed statistically using SPSS 20 and geographical mapping of the cases was carried out using EPI INFO 7 software.

RESULTS: 1004 dengue positive cases were identified during the study period. Geographical mapping of the case clusters showed specific areas in the city as well as neighbouring districts, which were an indirect evidence of the causative mosquito's endemic breeding places. Overall mortality noted in this group was 1.3% and mortality in cases with severe thrombocytopenia was 4 in 1000 cases. Severe thrombocytopenia (Plat≤ 10,000) on admission increased odds ratio for mortality i.e. around 10 times higher than the rest of the cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS: Identification of endemic mosquito breeding places and implementation of proper preventive measures is always a crucial step in the prevention of further outbreaks. Effective registry using softwares by tertiary care hospitals will be obligatory to track the location of the cases as these hospitals are the nodal point of care for most of the cases in developing countries.