BACKGROUND Dengue fever causes considerable mortality and morbidity. The calcium ion plays a major role in cellular functions and signalling. We evaluated the correlation between severity of dengue and the serum free calcium. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was done in a tertiary care hospital in Bapuji and Chigateri Hospital, Davangere. Patients with dengue fever were diagnosed using NS1 antigen and/or IgM antibody tests and were classified according to WHO criteria. The

more »

... on between severity of dengue and serum free calcium was studied. RESULTS Sample size was 100. Among them, 68 (68%) were males and 32 (32%) were females. 37 (37%), 54 (54%) and 9 (9%) patients were classified as Dengue Fever (DF), Dengue Fever with Warning Signs (DF + WS) and Severe Dengue (SD) respectively. The mean serum free calcium in the study was 3.92 ± 0.50 mg/dL. The mean serum calcium (mg/dL) in each class were as follows-Severe Dengue (3.09 ± 0.16), Dengue Fever with Warning Signs (3.72 ± 0.34) and Dengue Fever (4.41 ± 0.16). The presence of hypocalcaemia significantly correlated with the severity of dengue (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION We conclude that the serum free calcium levels significantly correlated with the severity of dengue fever. Serum free calcium can be used as a predictor of severity in dengue fever. KEY WORDS Dengue, Hypocalcaemia, Serum Free Calcium, Severe Dengue. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Suresh SR, Srikanth AK, K. Sriharsha, et al. Utility of serum free calcium as a predictor of severity in dengue fever.