Objective:

To identify demographic and clinical factors associated with mortality due to severe dengue in five departments in Colombia.

Materials and methods:

Case-control study with patients admitted between 2009 and 2013. The cases were patients who died from dengue and the controls where patients with severe dengue who survived the disease. A multivariate analysis using the Mantel-Haenszel procedure identified risk factors associated with dengue mortality.

Results:

We analyzed 58 cases and 121 controls and identified four factors: in-hospital administration of dypirone (ORa=6.38 95%CI 2.41-16.86) and paracetamol (ORa=0.25 95%CI 0.10-0.61), comorbidities (ORa=3.52 95%CI 1.51-8.18), and a prior visit to the hospital (ORa=3.99 95%CI 1.63-9.77).

Conclusions:

Administration of dypirone in patients with severe dengue was associated with a higher risk of mortality. Considering that 20 countries have banned dipyrone because of its adverse effects, we advise against its use.