Dengue Virus Infections 1996 Case Definition

NOTE: A surveillance case definition is a set of uniform criteria used to define a disease for public health surveillance. Surveillance case definitions enable public health officials to classify and count cases consistently across reporting jurisdictions. Surveillance case definitions are not intended to be used by healthcare providers for making a clinical diagnosis or determining how to meet an individual patient’s health needs.

Clinical Description

An acute febrile illness characterized by frontal headache, retro-ocular pain, muscle and joint pain, and rash. The principal vector is the Aedes aegypti mosquito and transmission usually occurs in tropical or subtropical areas. Severe manifestations (e.g., dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome) are rare but may be fatal.

Laboratory Criteria For Diagnosis

Isolation of dengue virus from serum and/or autopsy tissue samples, OR
Demonstration of a fourfold or greater rise or fall in reciprocal immunoglobulin G (IgG) or immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody titers to one or more dengue virus antigens in paired serum samples, OR
Demonstration of dengue virus antigen in autopsy tissue or serum samples by immunohistochemistry or by viral nucleic acid detection

Case Classification

Probable

A clinically compatible case with supportive serologic findings (a reciprocal IgG antibody titer of greater than or equal to 1280 or a positive IgM antibody test on a single acute (late)- or convalescent-phase serum specimen to one or more dengue virus antigens)

Confirmed

A clinically compatible case that is laboratory confirmed

Comments

Dengue hemorrhagic fever is defined as an acute febrile illness with minor or major bleeding phenomena, thrombocytopenia (less than or equal to 100,000/mm³), and evidence of plasma leakage documented by hemoconcentration (hematocrit increased by greater than or equal to 20%) or other objective evidence of increased capillary permeability. The definition of dengue shock syndrome follows all of the above criteria for dengue hemorrhagic fever and also includes hypotension or narrow pulse pressure (less than or equal to 20 mm Hg).

Related Case Definition(s)

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Last Reviewed: April 16, 2021

Source: Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology