CHILDRENS DENGUE SHOCK SYNDROME IN FRENCH -POLYNESIA

The dengue fever is an intertropical arbovirus, well known in French P olynesia where the first cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever appeared a t the end of 1989. The authors report their experience in the paediatr ics ward of the Centre Hospitalier Territorial (CHT) of Papeete, where , from 1990 to 1992, 310 cases of dengue fever have been registered wi th 79 cases of dengue shock syndrome (25.5%) and 12 deaths (4%). Then, following an epidemiologic summary and a description of how the clini cal picture evolves in children, they insist on the fact that the path ophysiology of dengue fever is unknown, and there is no predictive fac tor; even if, in this study, the young age seems to be factor of sever ity. Therefore, an epidemiologic survey, and a very close monitoring o f each case are necessary, in order to start an aggressive symptomatic treatment as soon as possible. The antivector's fight is still the on ly prevention against this arbovirosis.