Systemic dengue infection associated with a new dengue virus type 2 introduction in Brazil - a case report

BackgroundDengue infection is caused by an arbovirus with a wide range of presentations, varying from asymptomatic disease to unspecific febrile illness and haemorrhagic syndrome with shock, which can evolve to death. In Brazil, the virus circulates since the 1980s with many introductions of new serotypes, genotypes, and lineages since then. Here we report a fatal case of dengue associated with a Dengue virus (DENV) lineage not detected in the country until now.Case presentationThe patient, a 58-year-old man arrived at the hospital complaining of fever and severe abdominal pain due to intense gallbladder edema, mimicking acute abdomen. After 48h of hospital admission, he evolved to refractory shock and death. DENV RNA was detected in all tissues collected (heart, lung, brain, kidney, spleen, pancreas, liver, and testis). Viral sequencing has shown that the virus belongs to serotype 2, American/Asian genotype, in a new clade, which has never been identified in Brazil before. The virus was phylogenetically related to isolates from central America [Puerto Rico (2005-2007), Martinique (2005), and Guadeloupe (2006)], most likely arriving in Brazil from Puerto Rico.ConclusionIn summary, this was the first fatal documented case with systemic dengue infection associated with the new introduction of Dengue type 2 virus in Brazil during the 2019 outbreak.

Automated summary

This study presents a fatal case of dengue infection associated with a newly introduced Dengue type 2 virus lineage in Brazil during the 2019 outbreak, which led to refractory shock and death in the patient.