Pseudobasophilia: A Helpful Screening Tool in Diagnosis of Dengue

Abstract

Introduction: Pakistan is dealing with an epidemic situation of dengue. Serological testing for its diagnosis is not available everywhere across the country. So, in the current scenario, basophilia flagged by automated hematology analyzer can be a helpful screening tool in early diagnosis and prognosis of dengue in a resource limited country like ours. Aims & Objectives: To assess the utilization of basophilia flag as a screening tool in early diagnosis of dengue by studying the frequency of basophilia flag and it’s prognostic significance by correlating absolute basophil count with severity of thrombocytopenia. Place and duration of study: It was a cross sectional study and conducted at Chughtai Institute of Pathology from August 2021 to October 2021. Material & Methods: Total 1007 patients who had NS1 positive confirmed dengue infection were included in the study and EDTA blood samples were run on Mindray BC-6800 six-part hematology analyzer. Basophilia flag was noted, its frequency was calculated and expressed as percentage. Also, correlation of absolute basophil count with platelet count was calculated. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 23.0, p value <0.05 was taken as significant. Results: WBC flag showing “basophilia” was seen in 136 patients (13.6%) and a significant correlation was seen between raised absolute basophil count and thrombocytopenia using Pearson test. Conclusion: Pseudobasophilia is an important screening tool in diagnosing dengue patients and as significant prognostic marker as increased absolute basophilic count correlates with severity of thrombocytopenia.