DENGUE FEVER:
Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are acute febrile diseases, found in tropical areas as well as most areas in Africa
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Regions where Dengue fever occur.
Dengue fever is caused by one of four closely related virus serotypes of the genus Flavivirus. There is no cross-protection and epidemics caused by multiple serotypes can also occur. This means that you are not necessarily protected from a re-occurring infection of Dengue fever if you have already had an infection from one type of the virus. Dengue fever is transmitted to humans by the Aedes aegypti (and rarely Aedes albopictus) mosquito, which feeds during the day.
The first symptom of this disease is fever. It usually occurs in combination with severe headache, muscle and joint pains, and rashes. The dengue rash is characterized by a bright red petechia and usually appears first on the lower limbs and the chest. In some patients, it spreads to cover most of the body. Other symptoms include gastritis possibly associated abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. The classic dengue fever lasts about six to seven days.
Cases of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) usually involve a higher fever, haemorrhagic phenomena, thrombocytopenia, and haemoconcentration. A small proportion of cases lead to dengue shock syndrome (DSS) which has a high mortality rate.
Treatment for this disease involves supportive therapy. Increased oral fluid intake is recommended to prevent dehydration. Supplementation with intravenous fluids may be necessary to prevent dehydration
It is very important to avoid aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. These drugs are often used to treat pain and fever though in this case they may actually aggravate the bleeding tendency associated with some of these infections. Patients should receive acetaminophen to deal with symptoms brought on by Dengue.
There is no commercially available vaccine for the dengue flavivirus. Primary prevention of dengue involves eliminating or reducing the mosquito vector for dengue. Public spraying for mosquitoes is the most important aspect of this vector. Personal prevention consists of the use of mosquito nets, repellents containing NNDB or DEET, covering exposed skin and wearing long sleeved clothing, the use of DEET-impregnated bed-nets, and avoiding endemic areas altogether.
Stain of Dengue in the human body.
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Life cycle of the Dengue fever virus.
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