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Dengue Haemorrhagic fever (DHF) is a severe and sometimes fatal form of dengue. Typical cases of DHF are characterized by four major clinical manifestations: high fever, haemorrhagic phenomena, hepatomegaly and circulatory failure. Moderate to marked thrombocytopenia with concurrent haemoconcentration is a distinctive clinical laboratory finding of DHF. The major pathophysiological change that determines
severity of disease in DHF is
leakage of plasma, as manifested by an elevated haematocrit (haemoconcentration), a serous effusion or hypoproteinaemia.
Children with DHF commonly present with a sudden rise in temperature accompanied by facial flush and other non-specific constitutional symptoms resembling dengue fever, such as anorexia, vomiting, headache, muscle, bone or joint pain.
Hepatomegaly - enlargement of
liver.
Haemorrhagic – bleeding
Haematocrit –
volume percentage of erythrocytes (red blood cells) in whole blood.
Hypoproteinaemia – deficiency of proteins in
blood.

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