Introduction: Dengue fever or infection is a potentially fatal infection that can occur in people of all age groups. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies dengue as an important public health disease which affects over 100 million people worldwide, annually. Diagnosing dengue infection in the early stages helps in early identification and  prevention of complications like Dengue shock syndrome and Dengue Hemorrhagic fever. Aim of this study is to identify the dengue specific antigen (NS1) and antibody (IgM & IgG) and correlate them with the platelet and total white blood cell or leukocyte count (WBC or TLC) and also to assess the effectiveness of platelets transfusion in these patients.
Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study done for 2 consecutive years involving only second half of the year 2018 and 2019 i.e., June 2018 to December 2018 and June 2019 to December 2019. Dengue infection or fever incidence is more during second half of the year during monsoon and winter seasons. . A total of 587 samples were included in this study (positives) out of 4477 samples received for dengue testing.
Results: A total of 587 cases were included in this study, males were 349 (59.45 %) and females 238 (40.55 %). Out of the 587 positive tests, NS1 Antigen was positive in 473 cases, IgM was positive in 188 cases. IgG was positive in all active and recovered cases. Out of the 587 cases, only 423 cases (72%) showed thrombocytopenia during the first 3 days of the clinical symptoms or NS1 positivity, total 561 (95.6%) cases showed thrombocytopenia during the first 5 days of positivity or symptoms.
Conclusion: Association of thrombocytopenia in dengue positive cases was highly significant. NS1 antigen detection is the only means of diagnosis of dengue infection in the first few days of fever, which helps in minimizing the complications and early management of complications.
Keywords: Thrombocytopenia, Dengue fever, NS1 antigen, Dengue shock syndrome, Dengue hemorrhagic fever