EMPOWERING EARLY DETECTION: PSEUDOBASOPHILIA AS A SCREENING TOOL IN DENGUE

The Diatron vision is to provide innovative, high quality laboratory products and services that contribute to the health and well-being of people worldwide. Delve into our latest article below to find out how our hematology analyzers are supporting the diagnosis process of dengue fever, offering new possibilities in the fight against this disease.

In countries like India or Pakistan, Dengue is one of the most common causes of acute undifferentiated fever affecting both the pediatric and adult populations. Unless detected early, the disease can be fatal and in some outbreaks has been associated with fatality rates of 3 to 5%.

Hematological assessment is important to the diagnosis of Dengue and the follow-up of its pathology. Leucopenia (a reduction in the number of white cells in the blood, typical of various diseases) and thrombocytopenia (deficiency of platelets in the blood) are frequently found.

Different studies have also shown that basophilia is an associated finding in Dengue cases. Basophilia is defined as an elevated absolute basophil count greater than 200 cells/uL or relative basophil count greater than 2% and can be found in myeloproliferative neoplasms such as chronic myeloid leukemia or in allergic and inflammatory conditions.

However, the apparent basophilia found in Dengue is in fact a Pseudobasophilia. This is a cell counter analyzer phenomenon caused by other cell populations, such as atypical lymphocytes, being counted as basophils. In Dengue, it has been reported that Pseudobasophilia increases from day 2 of fever to day 8.

The Abacus 5 analyzer will display a flag to highlight the high value of basophils. In addition, the basophil scattergram is deformed with an angular rotation of the populations (see below examples)

Example of results on Abacus 5

Pseudobasophilia represents an affordable screening tool for Dengue, especially in areas where hospitals or clinics are resource-limited and do not have proper dengue serological testing facilities.

ABOUT DIATRON

Located in Budapest, Hungary, Diatron is a member of the STRATEC Group, Birkenfeld, Germany. Diatron offers a complete package ranging from innovative R & D, excellence in manufacturing and reagent production plus the highest quality sales office and service support in the hematology, clinical chemistry and CLIA fields. This is reflected, with products being present in more than 110 countries and distributed by an established and dedicated distributor network. With over 50,000 analyzers in laboratory use today, Diatron has a large customer base which is continuously growing year on year.

References:

• Kevin Manuel, Marie Moses Ambroise, Anita Ramdas, Renu G’Boy Varghese - Pseudobasophilia as a Screening Tool in Dengue: A Single Center Study, Journal of Laboratory Physicians 2021
• Mavra Fatima, Ayesha Younas, Ayisha Imran, Asma Nasir, Nauman Aslam Malik, Omar Rasheed Chughtai, Akhtar Sohail Chughtai - Pseudobasophilia: A Helpful Screening Tool in Diagnosis of Dengue, Proceedings S.Z.M.C. Vol: 36(1): pp. 31-34, 2022