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A retrospective study was conducted by reviewing medical records of 323 adult patients hospitalized with dengue infection at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Bangkok, Thailand between 2006 and 2010 in order to determine factors associated with severe clinical manifestations of dengue. Of 323 patients, 95 (29.4%) had dengue fever (DF) and 228 (70.6%) had DHF, which were categorized as grade I (67 patients, 29.4%), grade II (62 patients, 27.2%), grade III (95 patients, 41.7%) and grade IV (4 patients, 1.8%) following 1997 WHO definitions. Using the revised 2009 WHO definitions, 233 patients (72.1%) had non-severe dengue infection and 90 patients (27.9%) had severe dengue infection. Of the 233 patients with non-severe dengue infection, 193 (82.8%) were classified as having non-severe dengue infection with warning signs and 40 (17.2%) were classified as having non-severe dengue infection without warning signs. Using stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis, having a hematocrit >2% above the reference range [odds ratio (OR) 3.235; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.807-5.793] or having an alanine aminotransferase level >120 IU/l (OR 1.896; 95% CI 1.018-3.531) were associated with having DHF grades II-IV, whereas female gender (OR 2.042; 95% CI 1.143-3.648) or having a mean arterial pressure <80 mmHg (OR 2.275; 95% CI 1.302-3.975) were associated with severe dengue. These findings may help clinicians to determine patients at risk for severe manifestations of dengue infection, which could lead to proper management of these cases.

A retrospective study was conducted by reviewing 459 medical records of adult treatment naive HIV patients who received a fixed dose combination of GPO-VIR-S (stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine) or GPO-VIR-Z (zidovudine, lamivudine and nevirapine) at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand during 2002-2009 following Thai National Treatment Guideline for adults with HIV. The aim of this study was to assess the association between the baseline CD4 cell count and outcome. The median CD4 cell count at baseline, 6, 12 and 102 months were 102 cells/microl, 213 cells/microl, 274 cells/microl and 423 cells/microl. The virologic response (p=0.327), virologic rebound (p=0.626), adverse effects of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) (p=0.976), switching to other ART (p=0.245), occurrence of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) (p>0.05) and occurrence of drug resistance (p=0.952) were not significantly associated with baseline CD4 count. The Kaplan-Meier estimate showed the median time (95% CI) to achieve virologic response was 10.4 (9.8-11.0) months and the median time to achieve virologic rebound was 30.0 (21.6-38.4) months after initiation of ART. Analysis showed the median time to achieved virologic response (p=0.401) and virologic rebound (p=0.562) were not significantly associated with the baseline CD4 count. This study shows the outcome after onset of ART did not vary by baseline CD4 cell count.

This is a case report of a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) undergoing imatinib treatment who became infected with dengue virus. The patient presented with classic dengue symptoms, along with early minor bleeding (blood-stained sputum) during the first 5 days of illness. Continuous inpatient imatinib treatment for CML was given without blood transfusion. The hemoglobin and white blood-cell count slowly improved over 30 days while recovering from the dengue viral infection. The patient recovered from the dengue virus infection without complication. Clinical monitoring of hematologic changes is needed in dengue patients undergoing anticancer treatment.

Hemorrhage is an important complication in dengue infection, but early predictors of clinically significant bleeding are undefined. This study aimed to determine clinical factors on admission associated with Type I bleeding, defined as gastrointestinal bleed, hematuria and menorrhagia, among adult patients with dengue infection. We carried out a retrospective study among 277 patients aged >15 years with serologically-confirmed dengue infection admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Bangkok, Thailand during 2006-2009. Female gender (p<0.001), vomiting (p=0.05), severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count < 25 x 10(9)/l; p=0.007), high absolute lymphocyte count (ALC >500; p=0.05) and high aspartate aminotransferase level (AST >200; p=0.02) were significantly associated with hemorrhage on univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis revealed variables associated with bleeding were female gender [odds ratio (OR) 14.5; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.16-0.56, p<0.001], thrombocytopenia (OR 4.7; 95%CI 0.13-0.9, p=0.03) and ALC >500 (OR 5.7; 95%CI 1.17-4.99, p=0.02). These data identify patients at high risk for developing clinically significant bleeding with dengue infection.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis has been reported to be associated with various systemic illnesses and infections, including severe malaria. We report here a 43 year-old Thai male presenting with fever and seizures. He was diagnosed as and treated for severe falciparum malaria. After gaining consciousness he developed focal neurological signs and evidence of increased intracranial pressure. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance venography (MRV) of the brain revealed a mid-superior sagittal sinus thrombosis with venous infarction. Investigations for other infections and thrombophilia were negative. The patient denied anticoagulant treatment. The clinical status and radiologic findings improved gradually. Physicians who care for malaria patients need to be aware of this rare complication when a malaria patient presents with focal neurological signs.