The use of folic acid in dengue: has it any value?

Folic acid is used in dengue patients. Our study aims to compare the duration of recovery of thrombocytopenia in patients with dengue infection who received folic acid and those who did not. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of adult patients admitted over six years with a diagnosis of dengue. Of 2216 patients, 1464 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Group A were those patients who received folic acid and group B were those who did not. A total of 1322 (90.3%) patients received folic acid. The mean time period required for platelets to double the nadir was 1.7 (±2.2) days in both groups A and B ( P = 0.89). In conclusion, there is no significant difference in the recovery of thrombocytopenia in patients with dengue fever who received folic and those who did not receive folic acid.