Changing trends of dengue fever in China:Meta-analysis of comorbidity rates and clinical manifestations
Objective To analyze the changing trends of severe dengue(SD)among adults and children in China and compare the clinical manifestations between the two groups,providing scientific evidence to optimize dengue prevention strategies and reduce severe cases.Methods Literature related to clinical or infection aspects of dengue fever clinical or infection studies published from database inception to December 31,2023,were retrieved from CNKI,Wanfang,VIP,and Scopus databases using keyword searches.The literature was screened according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria,and a meta-analysis was conducted using R(4.2.3)software.Results A total of 7 148 records were retrieved,ultimately including 30 studies on adults and 12 studies on children,involving eight provinces.The severe dengue comorbidity rate in adults decreased from 6.6%during 1978-1995 to 0.9%during 2014-2023,while in children,it significantly dropped from 15.8%during 1980-1995 to 0.5%during 2014-2019.In adult studies,the primary clinical manifestations and their comorbidity rates were:fever(99.2%),myalgia(55.6%),headache(52.0%),rash(45.5%),and fatigue(34.4%).In pediatric studies,the primary clinical manifestations and their comorbidity rates were:fever(97.6%),headache(38.8%),anorexia(31.9%),rash(30.5%),and lymphadenopathy(20.5%).Conclusions In recent years,the severe dengue comorbidity rates have significantly decreased in both adults and children,indicating that China's dengue prevention and control strategies have achieved remarkable results.The prominent clinical manifestations in adults are associated with organ damage,while children predominantly show gastrointestinal symptoms.Moving forward,efforts should be made to strengthen early diagnosis and standardized treatment to further reduce the clinical impact of dengue fever.