Dengue Fever

Summers have started in India already and February was termed as the hottest month in last few years. With temperature getting warmer, mosquitoes have started coming out. Along with mosquitoes, fear of contracting dengue fever creeps in too.

Dengue (DENG-gey) is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. When a mosquito bites a person infected with a dengue virus, the virus enters the mosquito. When the infected mosquito then bites another person, the virus enters that person’s bloodstream. After one has recovered from dengue, they have immunity to the virus that infected them — but not to the other three viruses. The risk of developing severe fever, also known as dengue hemorrhagic fever, actually increases if you’re infected a second, third or fourth time. It can cause severe bleeding, a sudden drop in blood pressure (shock) and death.

Symptoms of Dengue Fever

Symptoms typically begin 3 to 14 days after infection. Most common ones include:

• Fever (as high as 106 F)
• Headaches
• Muscle, bone and joint pain
• Pain behind the eyes
• Widespread rash
• Nausea and vomiting
• Rarely, minor bleeding from gums or nose

In some cases, symptoms worsen and can become dangerous to life. Blood vessels often become damaged and leaky. And the number of clot-forming cells (platelets) in the bloodstream drops. This can cause:

• Bleeding from nose and mouth
• Severe abdominal pain
• Persistent vomiting
• Bleeding under the skin
• Problems with lungs, liver and heart

Prevention

5-6 fever vaccines are in development, but not yet available. So for now, if you’re living or traveling in an area where this fever is known to be, the best way to avoid it is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes

These tips may help reduce the risk of mosquito bites :

• Stay in air-conditioned or well-screened housing.
• Reschedule outdoor activities: Avoid being outdoors at dawn, dusk and early evening, when more mosquitoes are out.
• Wear protective clothing: When you go into mosquito-infested areas, wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, socks and shoes.
• Use mosquito repellents on the skin and mosquito repelling chemicals like permethrin , DEET
• Reduce mosquito habitats: The mosquitoes that carry the virus typically live in and around houses, breeding in standing water that can collect in such things as used automobile tires, coolers etc. Reduce the breeding habitats to lower mosquito populations.