Nutritional Predictors of Severe Dengue Infection

The nutritional status is a strong predictor of the risk and outcome of infections. Dengue infection is highly endemic in populations that are subject to nutritional deficiencies; yet little is known regarding the role that those deficiencies could play on the progression from dengue fever to life-threatening forms of the disease, including dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS). In collaboration with colleagues at the Industrial University of Santander, Colombia (http://www.redaedes.org/), we are conducting case-control studies nested within cohorts of patients with confirmed dengue infection to identify dietary factors related to the risk of progression to potentially fatal forms of the disease.