Dengue Symptoms and Signs
Primary symptoms of dengue appear three to 15 days after the mosquito bite and include the following:
- high fever and severe headache,
- with severe pain behind the eyes that is apparent when trying to move the eyes.
Other associated symptoms are:
- joint pain,
- muscle and bone pain,
- rash,
- and mild bleeding.
Many affected people complain of high knee pain and low back pain.
Dengue infection is a leading cause of death and sickness in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. Dengue is caused by one of four viruses that are transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a more serious form of dengue infection.
Primary symptoms of dengue appear three to 15 days after the mosquito bite and include high fever and severe headache, with severe pain behind the eyes that is apparent when trying to move the eyes. Other associated symptoms are joint pain, muscle and bone pain, rash, and mild bleeding. Many affected people complain of low back pain. The lymph nodes of the neck and groin may be swollen. Young children and people infected for the first time typically have milder symptoms than older children and adults.
Dengue hemorrhagic fever starts with the typical signs and symptoms of dengue as described above. The fever lasts from two to seven days. After the fever begins to abate, symptoms occur that are related to increased permeability of the capillary blood vessels. These symptoms can include severe abdominal pain, prolonged vomiting, and breathing problems. Bleeding tendencies, including easy bruising, nosebleeds, bleeding gums, skin hemorrhages, and even internal bleeding may occur. The disease may progress to failure of the circulatory system, leading to shock and death.
How is dengue fever contracted?
The virus is contracted from the bite of a striped Aedes aegypti mosquito that has previously bitten an infected person. The mosquito flourishes during rainy seasons but can breed in water-filled flower pots, plastic bags, and cans year-round. One mosquito bite can cause the disease.
The virus is not contagious and cannot be spread directly from person to person. It is mosquito-borne, so there must be a person-to-mosquito-to-another-person pathway. The full life cycle of the virus involves the mosquito as the vector (transmitter) and the human as the source of infection.
What is the incubation period for dengue fever?
After being bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus, the incubation period for dengue fever ranges from three to 15 (usually five to eight) days before the signs and symptoms of dengue appear in stages.
Treatments:
It is found that at present there is no specific vaccine which can kill the virus of dengue fever not even a single antivirus tablets have been manufactured.
Dengue fever is treated by a medicine which is known as Paracetamol, an anti-pyretic.
The pain during the dengue fever in the bones can be relaxed through the pain killing tablets or by analgesics.
Patient must be hospitalized when there is DHF and DSS. The rate mortality is found to be high, about 50%, in the case of not getting hospitalized timely. With the help of hospitals, the treatment makes the mortality rate down to near about 3%. There are some other supportive treatments which help in the treatment of patient suffer from dengue. It includes Fluid of intravenous replacement which helps in preventing the shock.
Now-a-days, vaccines start getting developed for the treatment against four serotypes of dengue. They proved to be the best way to cure the disease of dengue.
In many endemic countries, it is found that the measures in preventing from mosquitoes have been failed. Patients start getting more prone to dehydration after drinking plenty of liquid things. In some of the cases, the prevention can be done through oxygen. And the use of Steroids is not considered useful.
Dengue Fever Testing:
How is it used?
The testing of dengue fever is done to determine whether the recent potential exposure and symptoms of the person body has been infected by dengue or not. It is difficult to diagnose the infection without doing laboratory tests as the symptoms initially may resemble like diseases like malaria. There are 2 types of testing available:
- Antibody tests— primarily these tests are used to help in diagnosing a recent or current infection. 2 different antibodies classes are detected by them that are produced by body in response to the infection of dengue fever, IgM and IgG. A combination of both these tests is required for diagnosis due to reason that the immune system of the body produces different antibodies levels during the time of illness. IgM antibodies are 1st produced and tests for it are most effective at the time when they are performed 7-10 days later the exposure. For some weeks, the blood levels rise and then decrease gradually. After some months, the IgM antibodies gets fall down below the detectable levels. They are produced slower than the rate of infection. The level rises typically with the acute infection, it stabilizes and then it persists long-term. All those who get exposed to it prior to current infection, maintains IgG antibodies level in the level that affects the diagnostic results’ interpretation.
- Molecular testing (PCR, polymerase chain reaction)— this test detects dengue virus’s genetic material in blood till 5 daysof the symptom onset.
When is it ordered?
Testing might be ordered at the time when people have symptoms and signs associated with dengue at tropical locations where it is present. Main symptoms and signs include:
- Low count of white blood cells
- Easy bruising
- Nose and gum bleeds
- Bone, muscle or joint pain
- Pain behind eyes or severe headache
- Sudden high fever (40°C or 104°F)
Usually testing is ordered within 1 to 2 weeks of the starting of the symptoms for detecting the infection. If the antibody testing is done, an additional sample of the blood is collected after 2 weeks of the symptoms in order to determine whether the level of antibody is rising.
What does the test result mean?
- Antibody testing— the test may have negative or positive result or might be reported as the antibody titer having an interpretation of the type of antibody (IgM or IgG) present.
Positive IgG and IgM tests detected for the dengue antibodies in the blood means that the person has become infected within recent weeks with the dengue virus. If IgG comes positive but IgM is negative or low, then it is probably that the person has got an infection earlier in past. If the titer of dengue IgG antibody increases from 1:4 to 1:64 between the initial samples then it is likely to have recent infection.
Negative IgG and/or IgM antibodies means that the person tested is not having any infection and the symptoms are because of any other reason or the antibody level may be very low for measuring. The individual might still have dengue infection- it might be just that it is very soon after the virus exposure to give a detectable antibody level.
The table as follows summarizes the results seen with the antibody testing:
| IgM Result | IgG Result | Possible Interpretation |
| Positive | Negative | Current infection |
| Positive | Positive | Current infection |
| Low or negative or not tested | Four-fold increase in samples taken 2-4 weeks apart | Recent infection |
| Low or negative | Positive | Past infection |
| Negative | Negative | Too soon after initial exposure for antibodies to develop or symptoms due to another cause |
- Molecular testing— the most reliable of all diagnosis is the PCR test that is considered as it detects the virus presence in the body but it is not available widely. A positive PCR result is considered conclusive. A PCR test having negative result indicates no infection present or low level of virus to detect if the test gets performed after the period of 5-day window since the time when the virus being present in the blood sample is collected. If recent exposures are suspected, then repeating the tests may be warranted later.
Which are the food reduce the dengue fever:
- Kiwi fruit, fig, Pomogranates, papaya etc( these will increase the blood count )
- Juice made from young leaves of papaya.(daily have one time 5ml or 3ml- continue for 3-5 days).
Post a comment