Medical Alert: Dengue Survivors Face Higher Health Risks Than COVID Patients

New Delhi: A study has found that dengue survivors are more likely to experience long-term health complications a year later as compared to those who contracted COVID-19.

According to researchers at NTU Singapore, dengue survivors have a 55% higher risk of developing heart issues — like irregular heartbeats, heart disease and blood clots — than those who recovered from coronavirus.

Researchers, who analysed data from 11,707 dengue patients and 1,248,326 COVID patients in Singapore between July 2021 and October 2022, looked for new health problems related to the heart, neurological and immune systems that appeared 31 to 300 days after infection.

The unique comparison was possible as dengue and COVID-19 cases were reported simultaneously during the period.

The study — conducted by a team from NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore’s Ministry of Health, Singapore General Hospital, National Centre for Infectious Diseases and the National Environment Agency – was published in the Journal of Travel Medicine.

“We were motivated to conduct the study due to the increasing geographic range of dengue caused by climate change. We also compared the results with those who recovered from COVID-19, as our previous research suggested a similar risk of long-term health complications,” said Assistant Professor Lim Jue Tao, lead author of the study.

The study also highlights importance of taking measures to prevent dengue and supports public health planning.