Dengue in renal transplant patients: a retrospective analysis

Abstract

We reviewed the impact of dengue in 27 renal transplant recipients (9 females and 18 males) at a mean of 63 (6-287) months after transplantation. Their mean age was 37+/-14 years and all were first transplantations (21 live donors, 6 deceased donors). Twenty-six were dengue fever cases and one had dengue hemorrhagic fever. Symptoms were: fever (100%), muscular pain (90%), malaise (75%), and headache (68%). Eight (29%) patients were admitted to hospital with one death. All other cases had full recovery. Mean serum creatinine before dengue was 1.4+/-0.6 mg/dL, increased to a mean peak of 1.9+/-1.2 mg/dL (P<0.001), and returned to baseline after recovery (1.6+/-0.82 mg/dL, P=NS). After a mean follow-up of 39+/-18 months, four patients lost their grafts due to chronic allograft nephropathy and four died, due to infectious causes not related to dengue. The first episode of dengue in transplanted patients resembled a flu-like syndrome, as in the general population. It did not cause long-term damage to either the patient or the graft.