Vitamin E should be part of routine management of dengue

If Vitamin E is started on Day 1 itself there may be more significant benefits to patients, says Prof. Pujitha Wickramasinghe, explaining that since the study recruited patients who were admitted to hospital, most patients received the Vitamin E treatment only after the first 24 hours of the illness.

Even if it is not dengue, Vitamin E would cause no harm to children, he advises parents. So if a child gets fever, parents could give the child the recommended dose of Vitamin E.

“Based on our findings, we rec- ommend that Vitamin E should be incorporated in the routine management of DF/DHF in children,” he stresses. The findings of the study were: Treatment with Vitamin E showed a significant improvement in clinical, haematological and biochemical parameters in children with DF and DHF. The temporal distribution patterns of WBC (white blood cells), platelets, serum albumin and serum cholesterol were higher, while the PCV (packed cell volume), serum AST (aspartate aminotrans- ferase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase) levels were lower in the treatment group compared to the placebo group. The PCV on Day 3.5; the WBC on Day 6; the ALT on Days 4 and 5; the AST on Days 3–5; and the albumin on Day 5 were significantly improved in the treatment group. There was no difference in the duration of hospital stay or occurrence of leaking. But the duration of leaking was significantly lower in the treatment group.