Skip to main content

Table 1 Baseline characteristics and day-7 outcome of study participants according to race

From: Dengue fever in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: clinical features and outcome in populations of black and non-black racial category

  All Black patients Non-black patients P value
N = 428 N = 240 N = 188
N(%) or Median (IQR)
Age, years 35 (27–45) 30 (23–40) 41 (34–49) < 0.001
Male sex 227 (53) 135 (56) 92 (49) 0.13
Low socioeconomic status 178 (42) 178 (74) 0 (0) < 0.001
Malaria coinfection 15 (3.5) 12 (5.0) 3 (1.6) 0.06
Pregnancy 8 (1.9) 5 (2.1) 3 (1.6) 0.71
HIV a 11 (2.6) 11 (4.6) 0 (0) NA
History of diabetes 6 (1.4) 3 (1.3) 3 (1.6) 0.76
Secondary dengue 57 (13.3) 31 (13) 26 (14) 0.78
Symptoms and signs at inclusion
 Duration of symptoms, days; Mean (SD) 2.8 (1.4) 2.9 (1.3) 2.7 (1.6) 0.01
 Headache 374 (87) 220 (92) 154 (82) 0.003
 Rash 98 (23) 10 (4.2) 88 (47) < 0.001
 Myalgia/Arthralgia 286 (67) 182 (76) 104 (55) < 0.001
 Vomiting 87 (20) 47 (20) 40 (21) 0.67
 Systolic blood pressure < 90mmh b 10 (2.3) 1 (0.4) 9 (4.8) 0.003
 Pulse pressure ≤ 20 mmHg b 7 (1.6) 2 (0.8) 5 (2.7) 0.14
 Altered mental status; Glasgow Coma Score < 15 2 (0.5) 2 (0.8) 0 (0) 0.21
Warning signs at inclusion and within 7 days of follow-up 129 (30) 67 (28) 62 (33) 0.26
 Abdominal pain 66 (15.4) 40 (17) 26 (14) 0.42
 Persistent vomiting 40 (9.4) 23 (9.6) 17 (9.0) 0.85
 Clinical fluid accumulation 4 (0.9) 2 (0.8) 2 (1.1) 0.81
 Mucosal bleed 42 (9.7) 14 (5.8) 24 (13) 0.01
Laboratory parameters at inclusion c
 Hemoglobin, mg/l 14 (13–15) 14 (13–15) 14 (12–15) 0.48
 Hematocrit, % 42 (39–46) 42 (38–46) 43 (40–46) 0.005
 Hematocrit > 45% 120 (28) 54 (23) 66 (35) 0.004
 Leukocytes, ×109/L 4.5 (3.1–6.0) 4.6 (3.1–6.2) 4.2 (3.0–5.6) 0.16
 Leukocytes < 3.5x109G/L 143 (33) 76 (32) 67 (36) 0.39
 Platelets, ×109/L 150 (115–189) 147 (106–195) 11 (122–178) 0.82
 Platelets < 100 × 109/L 70 (16) 48 (20) 22 (12) 0.02
Clinical outcome at day 7
 Severe dengue d 20 (4.7) 6 (2.5) 14 (7.5) 0.02
 Death 2 (0.5) 2 (0.8) 0 (0) 0.21
 Admission 39 (9.1) 21 (8.8) 18 (9.6) 0.77
 Intravenous fluid 55 (13) 18 (7.5) 37 (20) < 0.001
  1. aHIV screening was systematically performed in the public clinics only; b Missing blood pressure measurement in 129 patients (in 36 black and in 93 non-black patients); blood pressure was assumed to be within the normal range if missing; c Blood count values missing in 18 patients; d patients who died are included among patients with severe dengue
  2. Abbreviations: NA Not applicable
Back to article page

BMC Infectious Diseases

ISSN: 1471-2334

Contact us