Dengue Fever
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Dengue Fever
Dengue fever is a disease that is caused by a virus that is carried by mosquitos. Dengue fever is spread by a mosquito which is infected with a dengue virus through a bite. When in mild cases, the disease causes rash and flu-like symptoms. Some individuals especially children might get more severe forms of the illness which is known as dengue hemorrhagic fever as well as dengue shock syndrome.
Causes of dengue fever.
Dengue fever is spread when a mosquito containing the virus bites a person. The disease, however, is not spread from one individual to the next through casual contact. An estimate of about 390 million infections of dengue fever occurs worldwide in every year. Out of this 360 million people, 96 million cases results from illness of dengue fever. There is a need to protect people with dengue fever from a mosquito bite to prevent its spread from one person to the next. In a situation whereby mosquito bites a person who is infected, the mosquito becomes infected with the virus hence can spread the disease from one person to the next. (Kutsuna et.al 2015).
Most of the typical cases of dengue fever occur in tropical areas of the world. The outbreak of dengue disease is frequent in most countries which are in Latin America as well as Southeast Asia. Also, the condition is also found in most countries of Africa and some parts of the Middle East. The disease is also found in Central, and South America expect in Paraguay, Argentina as well as Chile. Moreover, the condition is also found in the Western Pacific islands, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, the Caribbean excluding Cuba and the Cayman Islands, Southern China as well as the Indian subcontinent. Also, the disease occurs in other tropical and subtropical areas. In case those traveling in this areas, they may be infected with the virus and also facilitate how it is spread from an infected individual to a healthy person. An outbreak of the disease occurred in 2009 in Key West, Fla. The disease is scarcely found in the United States although there have been reported infections in Florida and also in areas of the southwestern United States more so along the border between Texas and Mexico.
The Symptoms of Dengue fever.
Dengue fever is manifested in some symptoms. The symptoms might be mild as well as severe. Most of the common symptoms of dengue fever include high temperature which occurs suddenly. The temperature might rise to 410c. This is accompanied by a headache and pain behind the eyes. Joint, as well as muscle pain, is also w common symptoms of dengue fever. Furthermore, a skin rash may occur due to the infection of the disease. Also, nausea is also a common symptom in addition to vomiting and loss of appetite. The fever that arises usually lasts up to a week where it may appear and disappear. At times the symptoms are mild which can be mistaken for the signs of the flu or other infections which are viral. In young children as well as in people who have never suffered from the disease tend to have milder cases as compared to old children and the adults although serious problems can develop in even in those individuals. (Bhatt, et.al 2013).
At the end of the initial fever, some individuals might have more and more severe symptoms which might be signs of hemorrhagic fever. Such symptoms include bleeding signs such as patches which are red which at times might look like bruises or tiny red spots. Also, bleeding occurs from the nose, gums as well as from the mouth. Furthermore, vomiting of blood might occur and also pass of stool which looks like black tar. Death might finally characterize this in severe cases of the patient suffering from the infections. Moreover, other acute symptoms of dengue hemorrhagic fever include severe belly pain as well as signs of shock by the individuals suffering from dengue hemorrhagic fever. People suffering from the above posters or noticed with this signs should see the doctor or taken to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment with immediate effect.
Diagnosis of dengue fever
Most doctors will ask and consider the symptoms the patient is suffering from as well as any recent travel. Asking about the traveling aids the doctor to get the information on whether the signs and symptoms given by patient may be the symptoms of the dengue disease as there are areas which are more suspected of the infection where others may or may not be susceptible the disease. Regions which are more vulnerable to the disease are discussed above. Also, the doctor confirms the suffering of the disease by removing blood from the patient and ordering a blood test and check for the virus or the antibodies to it.
Laboratory Tests.
Laboratory tests such as microbiology tests aids in the diagnosis of dengue fever. This is done by isolating the viruses in the cell cultures the detecting the viral antigen as well as detection of the specific antibodies in addition to detection of nucleic acid through PCR. The result which is obtained is harmful in the starting stage of the disease. PCR as well as the antigen which is usually viral and plays an essential role in the first seven days after the manifestation of the fever. The test of dengue disease was found that it was only useful in the diagnosis of the disease in the stage which took sometime after the infection. The duration at which the IgM and IgG get produced is 5 to 7 days where the maximum level of IgM which can get detected following the disease which is primary stage of development while the other phase of dengue is called IgG is produced following different arenas such as the second stage or tertiary stage. The IgM is a test in which the test cannot be determined after few days from primary infection but in case re-infection occurs, it is easy to detect the IgG over 60 years. After the patient has been infected with primary infection IgG, the test starts reaching a level after the duration of 14 to 21 days in the blood. Both IgM and IgG tests provide the immune capacity to different types of serotypes.
Treatment of Dengue fever.
Dengue disease has no specific medicine. The treatment should be conducted on those patients suffering from fever for more than two weeks as it is difficult for doctors to distinguish from dengue fever and Chikungunya fever as they have a similar type of viral infection and also the same symptoms as well it occurs in dengue-prone areas. In case there is the occurrence of dengue disease, pain relievers are used with acetaminophen. Medicines which have aspirin should be avoided as this would worsen bleeding. The patient is encouraged to rest and drink many fluids and see the doctor immediately.
Prevention of Dengue disease.
No vaccine is available to prevent dengue fever hence the best way to avoid it is through avoiding mosquito bites by infected mosquitos especially those people traveling to tropical areas which are more susceptible to dengue fever. This can be achieved by controlling the level of mosquitos as well as protecting oneself from the mosquitos. One can protect himself from mosquito bites by staying away from residential areas which are densely populated by mosquitos. Also, mosquito repellents can be applied while even indoors. While outdoors, wearing of long-sleeved shirts as well as long pants providing no area for the mosquito to bite. Air conditioning can also be used while indoors where available. To reduce the population of the mosquitos, one should get rid of places where mosquitos can breed such as in cans.
Dengue disease number cases which occur in most countries could continue to rise if the direct and indirect variables affecting the disease at the neighborhood level are not controlled. It is recommended careful attention to the further monitoring of dengue patterns, and specific neighborhood control strategies should be upheld and implemented as designed. Nevertheless, there is a need to develop new approaches which can examine and address neighborhood-level issues of the control of dengue fever
References.
Kutsuna, S., Kato, Y., Moi, M. L., Kotaki, A., Ota, M., Shinohara, K., & Sato, T. (2015). Autochthonous dengue fever, tokyo, japan, 2014. Emerging infectious diseases, 21(3), 517.
Bhatt, S., Gething, P. W., Brady, O. J., Messina, J. P., Farlow, A. W., Moyes, C. L., … & Myers, M. F. (2013). The global distribution and burden of dengue. Nature, 496(7446), 504-507.
Karyanti, Mulya Rahma, et al. “The changing incidence of dengue haemorrhagic fever in Indonesia: a 45-year registry-based analysis.” BMC infectious diseases 14.1 (2014): 412.
Bouzid, Maha, et al. “Climate change and the emergence of vector-borne diseases in Europe: case study of dengue fever.” BMC public health 14.1 (2014): 781.
