Sunday Times 2
Sri Lankan wins award for Dengue research
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Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, Consultant Physician and a well-known Specialist in Dengue, recently won an international award for his research work in Dengue. He was one of the three winners of the ProMED award in Emerging infections selected from submission of clinicians from all over the world to the International Society of Infectious Diseases. This was awarded at the recently held International Congress of Infectious Diseases. When contacted, Dr. Wijewickrama said his research showed clear evidence to say that Non-Steroidal-Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) such as Ibuprofen, Diclofenac and Mefanamic acid has deleterious effects in patients with Dengue. Even though many guidelines for the management of Dengue say that NSAID should not be used in Dengue, this recommendation was based on expert opinion rather than evidence. Therefore, some clinicians still use those in patients with fever even when Dengue is a possible diagnosis. However, now with definite evidence available, this should not be done says Dr. Wijewickrama. According to his research NSAID can cause liver damage and bleeding in patients with Dengue.
Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama is the Senior Consultant Physician at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (formerly IDH), Gothatuwa, Angoda. More than 11,000 Dengue patients had been admitted and treated over the last five years at this hospital (NIID) under his supervision. He says observation of patients who had NSAID getting complications prompted him to do this research. Other collaborators of this research were Dr. Damayanthi Idampitiya, Consultant Physician at NIID and Dr. Sunethra Gunasena, Consultant Virologist at Medical Research Institute (MRI).
Non-Steroidal-Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) such as Ibuprofen, Diclofenac and Mefanamic acid are used for the high fever and for muscle and bone pains. As Dengue is prevalent all over the country, Dr. Wijewickrama strongly recommends not to use NSAIDs for any patient with fever.