A descriptive study on dengue fever reported in district hospital Kathua, J&K.

Background: Dengue fever is a serious public health problem in terms of its morbidity and mortality as it is reported from almost all countries and is endemic in the tropical countries. The present study is a hospital – based retrospective study in a district hospital which aims to describe the frequency, distribution of dengue fever based on the variables such as age, sex and year. Out of 350 reported cases of dengue, 72% were males and 28% were females. In both males and females, the high proportion of cases were reported in adult age groups (>20 years). Conclusion: More cases of dengue fever were reported in the adult age group (20 years and above) and in males compared to low age groups (<20 years) and Females. It highlights the involvement of work component in the occurrence of disease. Community-based action program is required for source reduction activities in the outdoor area for arresting the breeding and multiplication of Aedes mosquitoes and thereby to reduce the morbidity and mortality of dengue fever.