The severity of dengue infection can be predicted at an early presentation by looking at the signs/symptoms and other clinical parameters which have been included as warning signs in WHO dengue classification. The objective of this paper is to review previous literature on dengue warning signs that can be utilised as predictors of severe dengue. PubMed, Wiley Online Library, Science Direct and a manual search of reference lists of articles published after 2010 were used to retrieve relevant studies. The search strategy identified 146 citations. Sixteen articles published between 2010 and 2016 were ultimately included in this review based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Warning signs include abdominal pain/tenderness, persistent vomiting, hepatomegaly and haemorrhagic manifestations. The utilisation of WHO dengue warning signs by the clinicians especially at the primary health care level may help preventing severe complications in patients with dengue infection and also may reduce unnecessary admission.
Key words: dengue fever, severe dengue, predictors, symptoms
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