Dengue fever is not a new phenomenon in our country. In fact, we even saw lots of advertisements about it on television and billboards before. Dengue fever is common and already endemic in tropical climate countries and especially in South-East Asia such as our own country Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Dengue causes a wide spectrum of diseases which range from no known symptoms until severe symptoms involving life-threatening conditions or death.
Dengue as we know is caused by the dengue virus transmitted by mosquitoes. The primary mosquito responsible for carrying the virus is mostly female mosquitoes from species Aedes aegypti. Uninfected mosquito can be infected with the virus when it bites a person who already has the dengue virus in the body. The virus then infected the mosquitoes and when these mosquitoes bite other humans, the virus is then released. Once a mosquito is infected with the virus, it is able to carry the virus and transmit to other people for the rest of its life. This ongoing cycle makes dengue the fastest spreading viral diseases caused by mosquito-borne diseases.
Even though most cases are asymptomatic or mild symptoms, severe flu-like symptoms can occur and last for 2 to 7 days after 4-10 days of bites of an infected mosquito. Since the symptoms, especially in the early stage, seem mild and may be mistaken with other illnesses, it is essential to know early symptoms to prevent someone falling into a critical state.
1- dengue should be suspected when the fever is high (more than 40 celcius) that lasts for two to seven days and accompany either with:
- severe headache
- sudden pain of muscle, joint or bone
- nausea
- vomiting
- skin rash
- swollen glands
2- when the above symptoms persist into the 3rd until 7th days, a person will enter the 24 to 48 hours of critical phase which some people might show worsening symptoms throughout the phase. Some people might mistakenly assume that they are already fully healed as the body temperature will drop to normal when the truth is the severe dengue episode is on its way. Hence, it is important for the sick person or family member to know the warning signs in this critical phase, especially after the fever resolves, as they need to go to the emergency room as soon as possible.
Warning signs:
- sudden severe pain in the stomach or abdomen
- vomiting more than 3 times in 24 hours
- present of blood in stool or vomiting with blood
- sudden bleeding gums or nose
- feeling extra tired, restlessness or easily irritated
- abnormal breathing or difficulty to breath well
The main aim for treatment in patients with dengue fever is to help reduce the symptoms causing patient feeling discomfort and to help patients overcome the critical phase since there is no specific treatment for dengue. Mild dengue cases might just need to rest at home, keep themselves hydrated and seek doctor advice. Symptoms such as fever and pain can be reduced with uses of paracetamol or acetaminophen. Avoid using NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen as painkillers because it may alleviate risk of bleeding by blood thinning. In severe dengue cases, hospitalisation is required for physicians to observe the symptoms and provide extra medical care to help patients survive.
The best way to avoid yourself from getting dengue is to take preventive measures such as wearing long sleeved clothes to cover skin from mosquito bites, using mosquito repellent in your room and making sure objects or containers are free from holding stagnant water that can be the main medium for mosquitoes to breed and grow.
References:
https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/symptoms/index.html
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dengue-and-severe-dengue
Women 4 Health 