1 Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Microbiology, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, University of Montreal, Faculty of Medicine, Montreal
Dengue hemorrhagic fever, a severe, often fatal, illness, occurs mostly in children and is characterized by a hemorrhagic diathesis, fever, vomiting, a maculopapular rash, liver involvement, and occasionally, a protein-losing shock syndrome.1 This disease is to be differentiated from dengue fever, a relatively benign disease occurring primarily in adults and manifested by myalgia, arthralgia, bone pain, and leukopenia. Cases of dengue fever in North America have been described among travellers from the Carribean.2-6 Dengue hemorrhagic fever is an epidemic disease described after World War II and limited to areas of Southeast Asia, India, and the Pacific islands.7-8
We believe this to be the first reported case in North America of dengue hemorrhagic fever with disseminated intravascular coagulation in a child of Southeast Asian origin.