Dengue

Dengue is also known as break bone fever and is caused by a virus. Dengu is a communicable disease. You can get it if an infected mosquito bites you. Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquito within the Aedes group. Dengue occurs in tropical areas. Sometimes dengue turns into dengue hemorrhagic fever, which causes bleeding from your nose, or under your skin. It can also become dengue shock syndrome which causes massive bleeding and shock. This is a life-threatening condition. Symptoms and Signs A large number of infections may be sub-clinical, that is, the patients may not even be aware that they have had the disease. The infection usually manifests itself as fever with severe body pain or myalgia. There may be an associated rash over parts of the body. The body pain is so intense that this disease has been called break-bone fever. Quite often, the disease makes nofurther progress and the patients recover. However, some patients may develop involvement of either of the two dreaded syndromes in Dengue - bleeding (called DHF or Dengue Hemorraghic Fever) or involvement of the brain with altered consciousness (encephalitis). Fatalities are higher among patients in whom these complications are present. Joint pain is another symptom though there may not be true arthritis. Associated symptoms include severe headache, vomiting, and photophobia. Examination of the patient may reveal few findings such as a rash and pain on palpation of the muscles. These symptoms usually last for a period of two to five days and most patients who do not have complications recover completely. The risk of complications appears to be greater in children, particularly the risk of bleeding and DHF with its high fatality rate. Some patients may also go into shock, a condition known as Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS). This too carries a higher risk of mortality. Treatment and Prognosis Treatment is usually supportive and symptomatic. Analgesics, anti-pyretics, and broad-spectrum antibiotics are used during the acute phase to minimise the risk of secondary infection. In cases of bleeding, blood transfusions are required. Shock, if present, needs to be aggressively treated with fluids, oxygen, and close monitoring. Most patients will recover without any sequel. The overall mortality rate with effective treatment is close to 1% but this may be higher in children. Prevention Control and elimination of mosquito population is the best method of prevention. A vaccine is in the late stages of development but is still not available for commercial use on a large scale. Control of the mosquito population reduces the incidence of dengue, yellow fever, and certain other rare fevers that are also transmitted by the same species of mosquito.