June is the Dengue Awareness month. In this post, I’ll be sharing Dengue Symptoms, Treatment, and Vaccine. Dengue is known as breakbone fever wherein the disease may progress to life-threatening complications.
Dengue Symptoms, Treatment, and Vaccine
What is Dengue?
The Medical City (TMC) facts about Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by the bite of an infected female Aedes mosquito. There are four distinct serotypes of the dengue virus (DEN 1, DEN 2, DEN 3 and DEN 4). Symptoms appear in 3–14 days (average 4–7 days) after the infective bite. Dengue fever is a flu-like illness that affects infants, young children and adults. There is no specific treatment for dengue fever. Severe dengue is a potentially lethal complication, but early clinical diagnosis and careful clinical management by experienced physicians and nurses often save lives.
What is Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF)?
DHF is a more severe form of dengue infection. It can be fatal if unrecognized and not properly treated in a timely manner. DHF is caused by infection with the same viruses that cause dengue fever. With good medical management, mortality due to DHF can be less than 1%.
What are Dengue Symptoms?
According to The Medical City (TMC) press release, the principal symptoms of dengue fever are:
- high fever
- severe headache
- severe pain behind the eyes
- joint pain, muscle and bone pain
- rash, and mild bleeding (e.g., nose or gums bleed, easy bruising
Monitor the platelet count:
Normal Platelet Count
- Adult – about 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microliter of blood.
- Children – consult your pediatrician.
Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever is characterized by a fever that lasts from 2 to 7 seven days, with general signs and symptoms consistent with dengue fever. When the fever declines, symptoms including persistent vomiting, severe abdominal pain, and difficulty breathing, may develop. This marks the beginning of a 24- to 48-hour period when the smallest blood vessels (capillaries) become excessively permeable (“leaky”), allowing the fluid component to escape from the blood vessels into the peritoneum (causing ascites) and pleural cavity (leading to pleural effusions). This may lead to failure of the circulatory system and shock, followed by death, if circulatory failure is not corrected. In addition, the patient with DHF has a low platelet count and hemorrhagic manifestations, tendency to bruise easily or other types of skin hemorrhages, bleeding nose or gums, and possibly internal bleeding.
Dengue Updates
As of 1 April 2017, there were 26,433 suspected cases of dengue reported from January 1 2017. This is 35.8% lower compared with 41,170 cases for the same period in 2016. According to World Health Organization (WHO), more than 100 million new cases of dengue fever occur worldwide including dengue hemorrhagic fever (500,000) cases and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) along with 2.5% mortality rate. Dengue virus infection is the most common mosquito born viral disease and is a major public health problem (globally). More than 2.5 billion people in over 112 countries of the world are at risk from dengue virus. Read more about Dengue Preventions and Vaccination.
Dengue Vaccine
According to inquirer.net press release dated Friday, June 23, 2017. Dr. Gene Solante, expert on infectious diseases. “It took 19 years of research. Scientists harvest components of the virus while they are still alive, but take out the virulence which causes the disease.” Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine division of the international healthcare company, Sanofi, has created a preventive intervention. The dengue vaccine is classified as a live recombitant tetravalent. It is a preparation of killed viruses, used to protect against organisms that were injected. Now, the world’s first dengue vaccine is now commercially available in the Philippines. Watsons, the international healthcare and beauty care chain, will be holding a three-part series of dengue vaccinations in 108 stores starting April 30. It supports the World Health Organization’s goal of reducing the rate of dengue by 25 percent, and deaths by 50 percent by 2020.
Danilo Chiong, Watsons health business director, says the chain is the first retailer to make the dengue vaccine available to the public. A doctor will be on hand to administer the vaccines at selected branches. Recipients will be reminded every six months of their next dosage. Each vaccine costs P4,000 or a total of P12,000 for the full cycle. To make it affordable, Chiong explains that Watsons has a partnership with BDO and BDO credit card companies where people can pay by installment with no interest. Vaccination schedules at Watsons: Batch 1: April 30 (first shot); Oct. 29 (second); April 29, 2018 (third). Batch 2: May 14, (first shot); Nov. 12 (second); May 13, 2018 (third).
Dengue Treatments and Drugs
Mayo Clinic said that there’s no specific treatment for dengue fever exists. Your doctor may recommend that you drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration from vomiting and high fever. Acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) can alleviate pain and reduce fever. Avoid pain relievers that can increase bleeding complications — such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and naproxen sodium (Aleve, others).
- If you have a severe dengue fever, you may need:
- Supportive care in a hospital
- Intravenous (IV) fluid and electrolyte replacement
- Blood pressure monitoring
- Transfusion to replace blood loss
- How to prevent yourself from Dengue?
Dengue Prevention
According to Mayo Clinic, if you’re living or traveling in an area where dengue fever is known to be, the best way to avoid dengue fever is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes that carry the disease.
- If you are living or traveling in tropical areas where dengue fever is common, these tips may help reduce your risk of mosquito bites:
- Stay in air-conditioned or well-screened housing. The mosquitoes that carry the dengue viruses are most active from dawn to dusk, but they can also bite at night.
- We can prevent Dengue/ mosquito diseases by keeping our place clean and keeping away things or places where dengue mosquitoes breed. Dengue Mosquitoes breed in stored, exposed water collection systems like drums, barrels, pots, tank, discarded bottles and tires, and other places where water is stored.
- Using a floor wax also possibly drives away mosquitoes and other insects.
- Wear protective clothing. When you go into mosquito-infested areas, wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, socks and shoes.
- Use mosquito repellent. Permethrin can be applied to your clothing, shoes, camping gear and bed netting. You can also buy clothing made with permethrin already in it. For your skin, use a repellent containing at least a 10 percent concentration of DEET.
- Reduce mosquito habitat. The mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus typically live in and around houses, breeding in standing water that can collect in such things as used automobile tires. Reduce the breeding habitat to lower mosquito populations.
It is better to monitor and check for Dengue Symptoms to avoid complications and death of a person that might possibly sick with Dengue.
Credits:
- http://www.who.int
- http://www.mayoclinic.org
- http://themedicalcity.com
- http://inquirer.net
Researcher: Mei Redillas
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