What are the symptoms of Dengue

According to World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate, there are over 100 million cases of dengue fever each year worldwide. Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease, which is caused by one of the four closely related dengue viruses. An Aedes mosquito infected with a dengue virus transmits dengue fever with a bite.

Dengue Fever: Symptoms and Signs

• symptoms of dengue appear after incubation period of three to 15 days after a mosquito carrying the virus has bitten a person.
• The initial signs of dengue fever are chills, headache, pain upon moving the eyes and low backache.
• The initial symptoms are followed by severe aches in the legs and joints.
• There is a sudden rise in body temperature of the infected, which gets close to 104 F (40 degrees).
• Low heart rate (bradycardia), reddened eyes (with acute pain), pale rash on the face and low blood pressure (hypotension) are some of the signs indicative of dengue fever spread in the body.
• Glands (lymph nodes) in the neck and groin too swell.
• There may be a mild bleeding such a nose bleed and bleeding gums.
• After two to four days, there is a rapid drop in body temperature and infected usually sweats profusely. During this time, body temperature becomes normal.
• After a day, there is again a rise in body temperature, which is accompanied by a rash that appears somewhere in the body, except the face. The palms and soles of infected may become bright or red and swell.

Signs of dengue fever are almost similar to those of a typical flu or viral infections. Young ones and individuals who have never had the infection before are at high risk of developing dengue than adults.

Dengue can become serious problem, turning into a dengue hemorrhagic fever. The medical condition is characterised by high fever, enlargement of the liver, failure of the circulatory system, damage to lymph/blood vessels and bleeding from the nose/gums. Ascribed as dengue shock syndrome (DSS), the condition may progress to excessive bleeding, shock and even death. Individuals with weak immune systems as well as those with a subsequent dengue infection are at higher risk of developing dengue hemorrhagic fever.

Dengue infection can be diagnosed with a blood test along with evaluation of all the symptoms. There is no specific medicine or treatment of dengue infection. However, if you suspect that you may have dengue fever, you can use pain relievers with acetaminophen but avoid medicines with aspirin that worsen bleeding.