Introduction:

The most common form of severe dengue is the dengue shock syndrome. However, infants with dengue don´t present the clinical manifestations that characterize it neither have this complication as often as older patients do.

Objective:

To know the clinical and laboratory characteristics of a patient of less than one-year-old whose dengue shock syndrome was initially interpreted as a case of severe sepsis.

Case presentation:

8-months-old female patient with fever and diarrhea that was checked in more than one hospital and the mother refuses to hospitalize her. In the fifth day of being ill appeared exanthem, and having fever she presented cyanosis and other signs of tisular hypoperfusion, being initially diagnosed a sepsis shock. She responded satisfactorily to the replacement of crystalloid fluids intravenously administered initially and she was sent to a pediatric intensive care unit where she continued receiving rehydration treatment and antibiotic therapy was started. Subsequently, sepsis was ruled out due to the case´s evolutions and the clinical and microbiological laboratory´s results, as well as a serology positive to dengue fever.

Conclusions:

Dengue shock syndrome in an infant can present without its typical clinical manifestations and for its diagnosis is essential to consider the epidemiological history.

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