Characteristics of Patients Co-infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and Dengue Virus, Buenos Aires, Argentina, March-June 2020

Abstract

An epidemic of dengue virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) co-infections occurred in Argentina during 2020. We describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes in a cohort of patients hospitalized because of co-infection. We retrospectively identified 13 patients from different hospitals in Buenos Aires who had confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2 and dengue virus and obtained clinical and laboratory data from clinical records. All patients had febrile disease when hospitalized. Headache was a common symptom. A total of 8 patients had respiratory symptoms, 5 had pneumonia, and 3 had rash. Nearly all patients had lymphopenia when hospitalized. No patients were admitted to an intensive care unit or died during follow up. Co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and dengue virus can occur in patients living in areas in which both viruses are epidemic. The outcome of these patients did not seem to be worse than those having either SARS-CoV-2 or dengue infection alone.

Keywords: Argentina; Buenos Aires; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; co-infection; coronavirus disease; coronaviruses; dengue fever; dengue virus; respiratory infections; viruses; zoonoses.