Doctors of a Pune-based hospital claimed to have successfully treated a 10-year-old girl who had co-infection of COVID-19 and dengue. They also claimed this is among the first cases of co-infection of COVID-19 and dengue reported among children till date.
The girl was admitted to the flu clinic of the private hospital located at Pimpri Chinchwad here in Maharashtra onAugust 12 with complaints of high-grade fever, sore throat, malaise, and nausea. Her COVID-19 test was positive, however, there were no complaints of cough and breathlessness, the Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital said in a release.
Her initial physical examination revealed a temperature of 103 degrees Fahrenheit with tachycardia, a condition that makes one’s heartbeat over 100 times per minute, it said. "There was no respiratory distress with her oxygen saturation (spO2) levels being 98 percent on room air, but she had the comorbid condition of being overweight," it said.
"Her reports also suggested leucopenia, a condition where the number of white cells reduces in the blood and her chest X-ray report showed bilateral infiltrates," it said. The girl was immediately admitted in the isolation ward and her treatment was started instantly.
"Her laboratory tests were conducted and the initial screening reported worsening of leucopoenia, with normal platelets, deranged liver enzyme and raised inflammatory markers," the hospital said. Doctors started the medication and the girl also underwent a high-resolution computerized tomography (CT) scan.
"On the second day, the girl developed erythematous maculopapular rash (abnormal redness and rash of both flat and raised lesion) on the trunk (torso) and extremities. On repeating the lab tests, it revealed her white blood cell(WBC) count had further reduced along with the platelets count," the release said. Her test results for dengue also came out positive, consultant neonatologist and pediatrician Dr Vrushali Bichkarsaid.
Doctors then planned to treat the co-infection while also keeping in mind her co-morbidity, she said. "The child was closely monitored for temperature, blood pressure, oral intake, hydration status. On day three of admission, the fever started responding with a reduction in frequency and severity with improvement in oral intake," she said.
On the fifth day of admission, her WBCs, platelets, liver enzyme count started improving. "Her repeat COVID-19 RT-PCR test came out negative and blood samples showed primary dengue infection. The WBC &platelet count had normalized. The patient was discharged on oral vitamins in a healthy condition on August 20," the hospital said.
Dr Rahul Kallianpur, associate director of thehospital's neonatology and pediatrics department, claimed that as per the current knowledge, "this is among the first cases of co-infection of COVID-19 and dengue reported in pediatric population till date". He said it is important for pediatricians and treating physicians to be increasingly aware of this emerging phenomenon of co-infection going forward, as cases of dengue will increase during the rainy season.
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