DENGUE FEVER:
Dengue (pronounced DEN gee) fever is a painful, debilitating mosquito-borne disease
caused by any one of four closely related dengue viruses.
These viruses are related to the viruses that cause West Nile infection and yellow fever.
Dengue fever is transmitted by the bite of an Aides mosquito infected with a dengue
virus.
The mosquito becomes infected when it bites a person with dengue virus in their blood.
It can’t be spread directly from one person to another person.
History:
The first record of a case of probable dengue fever is in a Chinese medical
encyclopedia from the Jin Dynasty (265–420 AD) which referred to a "water poison"
associated with flying insects.
The primary vector, A. Aegyptus, spread out of Africa in the 15th to 19th centuries due
in part to increased globalization secondary to the slave trade.
There have been descriptions of epidemics in the 17th century, but the most plausible
early reports of dengue epidemics are from 1779 and 1780, when an epidemic swept
across Asia, Africa and North America. From that time until 1940, epidemics were
infrequent.
In 1906, transmission by the Aedes mosquitoes was confirmed, and in 1907 dengue
was the second disease (after yellow fever) that was shown to be caused by a
virus. Further investigations by John Burton Cleland and Joseph Franklin
Siler completed the basic understanding of dengue transmission.
The marked spread of dengue during and after the Second World War has been
attributed to ecologic disruption.
The same trends also led to the spread of different serotypes of the disease to new
areas, and to the emergence of dengue hemorrhagic fever.
This severe form of the disease was first reported in the Philippines in 1953; by the
1970s, it had become a major cause of child mortality and had emerged in the Pacific
and the Americas.
Dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome were first noted in Central and
South America in 1981, as DENV-2 was contracted by people who had previously been
infected with DENV-1 several years earlier.
Symptoms of Dengue Fever:
Symptoms, which usually begin four to six days after infection and last for up to 10
days, may include
Sudden, high fever
Severe headaches
Pain behind the eyes
Severe joint and muscle pain
Fatigue
Nausea
Vomiting
Skin rash, which appears two to five days after the onset of fever
Mild bleeding (such a nose bleed, bleeding gums, or easy bruising)
Sometimes, symptoms are mild and can be mistaken for those of the flu or another viral
infection. Younger children and people who have never had the infection before tend to
have milder cases than older children and adults. However, serious problems can
develop.
These include dengue hemorrhagic fever, a rare complication characterized by high
fever, damage to lymph and blood vessels, bleeding from the nose and gums,
enlargement of the liver, and failure of the circulatory system.
The symptoms may progress to massive bleeding, shock, and death. This is called
dengue shock syndrome (DSS).
People with weakened immune systems as well as those with a second or subsequent
dengue infection are believed to be at greater risk for developing dengue hemorrhagic
fever.
Diagnosing Dengue Fever:
Doctors can diagnose dengue infection with a blood test to check for the virus or
antibodies to it. If you become sick after traveling to a tropical area, let your doctor
know. This will allow your doctor to evaluate the possibility that your symptoms were
caused by a dengue infection.
Treatment for Dengue Fever:
There is no specific medicine to treat dengue infection. If you think you may have
dengue fever, you should use pain relievers with acetaminophen and avoid medicines
with aspirin, which could worsen bleeding.
You should also rest, drink plenty of fluids, and see your doctor. If you start to feel
worse in the first 24 hours after your fever goes down, you should get to a hospital
immediately to be checked for complications.
Preventing Dengue Fever:
There is no vaccine to prevent dengue fever.
The best way to prevent the disease is to prevent bites by infected mosquitoes,
particularly if you are living in or traveling to a tropical area.
This involves protecting yourself and making efforts to keep the mosquito population
down.
To protect yourself:
Stay away from heavily populated residential areas, if possible.
Use mosquito repellents, even indoors.
When outdoors, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into
socks.
When indoors, use air conditioning if available.
Make sure window and door screens are secure and free of holes. If
sleeping areas are not screened or air conditioned, use mosquito nets.
If you have symptoms of dengue, speak to your doctor.
To reduce the mosquito population, get rid of places where mosquitoes can breed.
These include old tires, cans, or flower pots that collect rain.
Regularly change the water in outdoor bird baths and pets' water dishes.
If someone in your home gets dengue fever, be especially vigilant about efforts to
protect yourself and other family members from mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes that bite the infected family member could spread the infection to others in
your home.
