[Tropical virus not only in the tropics. Treatment, epidemiology and diagnosis of tropical viral infections]

The importance of accurate diagnosis of dengue fever

Dengue infection is the name of an important arboviral infection that is common in tropical countries. This infection can cause acute febrile illness with possible important serious consequences, hemorrhage and shock. In its most severe subtype – dengue hemorrhagic fever – the fatality rate is very high. In a case of dengue infection, for management to succeed, early diagnosis and prompt treatment is very important. There are many possible investigations with which to diagnose dengue. However, limitations can still be discerned for each method, but the most important consideration is the correctness of the diagnosis. Similar to any kind of laboratory diagnosis, error can be expected in laboratory diagnosis for dengue, and this is an important topic to be considered. In this article, the diagnosis of dengue will be discussed, with special focus on problems to be kept in mind to avoid errors.