Dengue fever can result in a drop in your white blood cell and platelet counts. The normal platelet count in the body ranges from 1.5 to 4 lacs, this can go down to as low as 20,000 to 40,000 in the case of dengue patients.
When do platelets decrease in dengue?
The platelet counts drop below normal level (150,000–450,000 platelets/μL) and may reach as low as <40000 platelets/μL during day 3–7 of fever in many patients6.
Why does platelets decrease in dengue?
When an infected mosquito bites a human, the dengue virus enters the bloodstream, it binds to platelets and replicates leading to multiplication of infectious virus. The infected platelet cells tend to destroy normal platelets which is one of the major causes for the drop in the platelet count in dengue fever.
