Topic

Dengue fever

Dengue fever is an infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted by the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito (dengue fever mosquito).

The mosquito develops in stagnant water accumulated in backyards and inside houses. It has daytime habits and therefore bites during the day.

This same mosquito is also responsible for the transmission of chikungunya, yellow fever, and zika.

 What are the most common symptoms of dengue fever?

The disease can be asymptomatic, that is, it does not cause symptoms.

When symptoms appear, you have something like severe flu:

  • high fever;
  • tiredness;
  • strong headache and eye pain;
  • aches and pains and joint pain.

The child may experience symptoms of drowsiness, refusal to eat, vomiting, and diarrhea.

The first symptoms usually appear 4 to 10 days after the bite of the infected mosquito.

If red spots appear on the skin, there is bleeding (nose, gums, vagina), intense and continuous abdominal pain or persistent vomiting, drowsiness or irritability, respiratory distress, or an enlarged liver, a warning sign should be noticed (hemorrhagic dengue fever). These signs usually appear after the third day of symptoms, when the fever begins to pass.

  

How to confirm if a person has dengue fever?

To know if the person has dengue fever, it is necessary to take a blood test (snap test or serology).

What is the treatment?

There is no specific treatment for dengue fever, and the care to treat the symptoms are: 

  • rest; 
  • drink a lot of fluids;
  • do not take medication on your own (never take AAS or anti-inflammatory);
  • IV hydration fluids, when necessary.

See below the situation of care and test for dengue fever in your country: The Philippines

How to prevent dengue fever?

The main way to prevent dengue fever is by fighting the mosquito.

  • eliminate stored water sites that could possibly become mosquito breeding sites, such as plant pots, gallons of water, tires, plastic bottles, unused and unmaintained swimming pools, and even small containers, such as bottle caps;
  • wear long clothes to protect arms and legs (long sleeves);
  • use repellents and insecticides, following the label instructions.
  • use mosquito nets (provide good protection for those who sleep during the day, such as babies, bedridden people, and night workers).

Important: Today there is already a vaccine against dengue fever (dengvaxia); however, it is not made available by the public health service.

When a person has dengue fever of one subtype (1, 2, 3, or 4), he is only immunized against that type, still being susceptible to being infected by the disease by the other subtypes. Therefore, the best thing to do is to prevent.


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