Transfusion support to Dengue patients in a hospital based blood transfusion service in north India.

We evaluated transfusion requirements in a retrospective study of 245 patients with various categories of Dengue infection. The majority (155/245) of our patients were of the Dengue fever (DF) category. There was no correlation between clinical bleed and platelet count as 81 non-bleeding patients were having counts < 20 x 10(3)/microL. Coagulopathy was observed in 37% of the patients with Dengue hemorrhagic fever or Dengue shock syndrome. A rapid response to platelet and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) transfusion was observed in all cases. However, inappropriate transfusion was a major concern as transfusion of 21.5% platelet concentrates was considered inappropriate.