Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Dengue: A Pilot Study

Document Type : Original

Authors

1 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur.

2 Department of Medcine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur.

Abstract

Introduction:
Association of hearing loss has been found with a couple of febrile illnesses. Dengue fever is an arboviral febrile illness that is transmitted by Aedes mosquito. A case of sensorineural hearing was documented in the literature recently in dengue haemorrhagic fever. We are aiming to find if hearing loss occurs in dengue patients.
 
Methods and Methodology:
We assessed the hearing of ten patients diagnosed with Dengue fever from August 2018 to October 2018, prospectively. Patients who had a prior history of hearing loss or chronic suppurative otitis media were excluded from the study. Brief history, clinical examination and audiological assessment were made for all patients. All patients were followed up for three months with repeat audiological evaluation.
 
Results:
Two patients complained of hearing loss after the onset of fever. They had a bilateral mild sensorineural hearing loss on audiological evaluation. One other patient was found to have bilateral high-frequency hearing loss although there was no complaint of hearing impairment. On three months follow up, both patients had bilateral mild sensorineural hearing loss with no improvement.
 
Conclusion:
Hearing loss in dengue fever, even though being mild in nature is irreversible. The cause of hearing loss in dengue is yet to be found. For the definitive association of hearing loss in dengue fever further studies are required.

Keywords


1. Simmons CP, Farrar JJ, Vinh Chau N, Wills B. Dengue. N Engl J Med 2012;366:1423–32.
2. WHO. Dengue guidelines for diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control – new edition; 2009 http://www.who.int/topics/dengue/en/
3. Kakkar M. Dengue fever is massively under-reported in India, hampering our response. BMJ. 2012 Dec 19;345:e8574–e8574.
4. Chakravarti A., Arora R., Luxemburger C. Fifty years of dengue in India. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2012; 106, 273–282.
5. Figueiredo RMP, Mourão MPG, Abi-Abib YEC, Oliveira CM, Roque R, Azara T, et al. Identification of dengue viruses in naturally infected Aedes aegypti females captured with BioGents (BG) – sentinel traps in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop 2013;46(2):221–2.
6. Guzman MG, Kourí G. Dengue: an update. Lancet Dis 2002;2(1):33.
7. Zanluca CMelo VCMosimann ALSantos GISantos CNLuz K. First report of autochthonous transmission of Zika virus in Brazil. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2015; 110:569–72
8. Cohen BE, Durstenfeld A, Roehm PC. Viral causes of hearing loss: a review for hearing health professionals. Trends Hear 2014;18:1–17.
9. Casetta I, Ciorba A, Cesnik E, Trevisi P, Tugnoli V, Bovo R. West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease presenting with acute flaccid paralysis and bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. J Neurol 2011; 258:1880–1.
10. Weatherhead JE, Miller VE, Garcia MN,  Hasbun R, Salazar LDimachkie MM et al. Long-term neurological outcomes in West Nile virus-infected patients: an observational study. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2005; 92:1006–12.
11. Ribeiro BNF, Guimarães ACG, Yazawa F, TakaraTFM,  de Carvalho GM, Zappelini CEM. Sensorineural hearing loss in hemorrhagic dengue? Int J Surg Case Rep 2015; 8C:38–41.
12. ES Vinhaes, LA Santos, Dias L, Andrade NA, Bezerra VH, de Carwvalho AT et al.  Transient hearing loss in adults associated with zika virus infection. Clin Infec Dis 2017;64(5):675-7.
13. Soni K, Chhabra S, Yadav S, Gulia J. Acute reversible hearing loss in scrub typhus: The Inter J  Otorh 2012,14
14. Fonseca BA, Fonseca SN. Dengue virus infections. Curr Opin Pediatr 2002;14(1):67–71.
15. Srikiatkhachorn A, Kelley JF. Endothelial cells in dengue hemorrhagic fever. Antiviral Res 2014; 109:160–70.
16. Kandogan T, Dalgic A. Reliability of Auditory Steady-State Response (ASSR): Comparing Thresholds of Auditory Steady-State Response (ASSR) with Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) in Children with Severe Hearing Loss. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2013 Dec; 65 (Suppl 3): 604-7.