Dengue fever in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: clinical features and outcome in populations of black and non-black racial category
BMC Infectious Diseases·
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12879-018-3549-z
- PMID
- 30541456
- PMCID
- PMC6292068
- OpenAlex
- W2903603845
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The authors suggested that less severe dengue presentations among black participants could contribute to under-recognition of dengue outbreaks in Africa and confusion with malaria. They highlighted point-of-care testing alongside malaria testing as a way to support dengue detection and diagnosis.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The study examined whether clinical presentation and short-term outcome of confirmed dengue differed between black and non-black adults during an outbreak in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Study design
This was an observational outbreak study of adults with confirmed dengue who attended outpatient clinics between December 2013 and July 2014. Outcomes were assessed over seven days, and regression models evaluated associations between race, clinical presentation, and severe dengue.
Population and setting
The study included 431 adults with dengue in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, after excluding three participants of mixed race. The sample comprised 241 black and 190 non-black participants; all were infected with dengue virus serotype 2, Cosmopolitan genotype.
Main findings
Black participants were younger than non-black participants, with median ages of 30 and 41 years, respectively. The authors reported that black race was independently associated with a lower likelihood of severe dengue, while the supplied abstract does not provide the complete numerical results for the reported statistical comparisons.
Public-health relevance
The authors suggested that less severe dengue presentations among black participants could contribute to under-recognition of dengue outbreaks in Africa and confusion with malaria. They highlighted point-of-care testing alongside malaria testing as a way to support dengue detection and diagnosis.
Important limitations
The study was limited to adults attending outpatient clinics, used a seven-day outcome assessment, and the supplied abstract omits some numerical results. This summary is also limited to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata; the original paper is required for decision-grade interpretation of methods, measurements, confounding, and applicability.
GIDS interpretation
The article is discoverable in relation to dengue, malaria, diagnostics, outbreak investigation, and surveillance in Tanzania. It provides single-study context on dengue presentation and detection during an outbreak but does not establish or confirm any current surveillance signal.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 12 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.