What is Dengue Fever?

Dengue is a viral infection that is spread to people through the bite of an infected mosquito. It mostly is asymptomatic, meaning it doesn’t present any symptoms. The most common symptoms in dengue are a high fever, headaches, and body aches that last a couple weeks. Most people do not need hospital care for this illness. 

However, some people who develop severe dengue face more risky symptoms and may need to be hospitalized. This often occurs in people who have been infected with dengue a second time. Some severe symptoms include bleeding gums, severe vomiting, and blood in vomit or stool. If experiencing these symptoms, patients should seek hospital care immediately. Even after recovery, patients often feel fatigued for several weeks. 

There are many risk factors to dengue, both individually and as a society. Those who have gotten dengue before are at a higher risk for severe dengue after a second bite. Also, access to reliable water can diminish the risk of contracting dengue. It’s also important to note that these risks are dynamic, and change with the movement of populations and climates.

There is no direct treatment for dengue, so the only way to manage symptoms is through pain relievers, such as acetaminophen. Anti-inflammatory medicine, such as ibuprofen, should be avoided because they can increase the risk for bleeding. However, if one is experiencing the symptoms mentioned above under severe dengue, then it’s best to take whatever is diagnosed by your doctor.

The best way to prevent dengue is to avoid getting bitten by a mosquito, as there is no way to determine which ones are infected. Some ways include wearing clothes that cover as much of your body as possible and sleeping under a mosquito net. Also to prevent mosquitoes from breeding, it’s best to dispose of waste as soon as possible and apply appropriate insecticides to outdoor water storage containers. 

Here are the sources I used! If you have any questions, please comment down below or drop them in the forum!

Sources:

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dengue-and-severe-dengue

https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/prevention/index.html