Post-infectious functional gastrointestinal disorders in children after a non severe dengue episode without alarm signs

Introduction: The pathogenesis of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) involves infectious agents such as viruses. Objective: To investigate the development of FGIDs at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after an episode of non-severe dengue without warning signs (NSD) in children. Materials and methods: Cohort study in 73 children diagnosed with NSD from the Hospital Universitario del Valle "Evaristo Garcia" and 62 healthy children from Cali, Colombia, who through the Questionnaire for Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rome III (QPGS-III) in Spanish were identified FGIDs at 3, 6 and 9 months of follow-up after NSD. Measures of central tendency, relative risk, chi-square and Fisher's exact test were performed, with p <0.05 being significant. Results: 135 children of 10.7-1.9 years were included; 51.1% male; 19.3% with some FGIDs (9.6% abdominal pain related to FGIDs). There was a greater risk to present some FGIDs and abdominal pain related to FGIDs after the NSD at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of follow-up but without significant differences. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the NSD does not increase the risk of FGIDs and abdominal pain related to FGIDs for up to 12 months of follow-up.