Symptoms of dengue virus

Dengue fever overview

Dengue (DENG-gey) fever may be a mosquito-borne disease that happens in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Mild dengue causes a high fever, rash, and muscle and joint pain. A severe sort of dengue also called dengue hemorrhagic fever, can cause severe bleeding, a sudden drop in vital signs (shock), and death.

Millions of cases of dengue infection occur worldwide annually. Dengue fever is most common in Southeast Asia and therefore the western Pacific islands, but the disease has been increasing rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Researchers are working on dengue fever vaccines. For now, the best prevention is to reduce mosquito habitats in areas where dengue is common.

Symptoms

Many people, especially children, and teenagers may experience no signs or symptoms during a mild case of dengue fever. When symptoms do occur, they typically begin four to seven days after you're bitten by an infected mosquito.

Dengue fever causes a high fever — 104 F degrees — and a minimum of two the subsequent

symptoms:

• Headache
• Muscle, bone, and joint pain
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Pain behind the eyes
• Swollen glands
• Rash

Most people recover within a week or so. In some cases, symptoms worsen and can become life-threatening. Blood vessels often become damaged and leaky. And the number of clot-forming cells (platelets) in your bloodstream drops. This can cause a severe form of dengue fever called dengue hemorrhagic fever, severe dengue, or dengue shock syndrome.

Signs and symptoms of dengue hemorrhagic fever or severe dengue - a life-threatening emergency - include:

• Severe abdominal pain
• Persistent vomiting
• Bleeding from your gums or nose
• Blood in your urine, stools, or vomit
• Bleeding under the skin, which could appear as if bruising
• Difficult or rapid breathing
• Cold or clammy skin (shock)
• Fatigue
• Irritability or restlessness

When to see a doctor

Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room if you've recently visited a region in which dengue fever is understood to occur and you develop emergency symptoms, like severe abdominal pain, vomiting, difficulty breathing, or blood in your nose, gums, vomit, or stools.

If you develop a fever and milder symptoms common to dengue, call your doctor.

Causes

Dengue fever is caused by anybody of 4 sorts of dengue viruses spread by mosquitoes that thrive in and near human lodgings. When a mosquito bites an individual 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 you've recovered from dengue, you've got immunity to the sort of virus that infected you — but to not the opposite three dengue virus types. The risk of developing severe dengue also referred to as dengue hemorrhagic fever actually increases if you're infected a second, third, or fourth time.

Risk factors

Factors that put you at greater risk of developing dengue or a more severe sort of the disease include:

• Living or traveling in tropical areas. 

Being in tropical and subtropical areas increases your risk of exposure to the virus that causes dengue. Especially high-risk areas are Southeast Asia, the western Pacific islands, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

• Prior infection with a dengue fever virus.

Previous infection with a dengue fever virus increases your risk of getting severe symptoms if you're infected again.

Complications

If severe, dengue can damage the lungs, liver, or heart. Blood pressure can drop to dangerous levels, causing shock and, in some cases, death.

Prevention

One dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, is currently approved to be used in those ages 9 to 45 who sleep in areas with a high incidence of dengue. The vaccine is given in three doses over the course of 12 months. Dengvaxia prevents dengue infections slightly more than half the time.

The vaccine is approved only for older children because younger vaccinated children appear to be at increased risk of severe dengue and hospitalization two years after receiving the vaccine.

The World Health Organization stresses that the vaccine isn't an efficient tool, on its own, to scale back dengue in areas where the illness is common. Controlling the mosquito population and human exposure remains the foremost critical part of prevention efforts.

So for now, if you're living or traveling in a neighborhood where dengue is understood to be, the

The best thanks to avoid dengue are to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes that carry the disease.

If you're living or traveling in tropical areas where dengue is common, the following pointers

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 will also bite in the dark.

• 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 a minimum of ten percent the concentration of DEET.

• Reduce mosquito habitat.

The mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus typically live in and around houses, breeding in standing water which will collect in such things as used automobile tires.

You can help lower mosquito populations by eliminating habitats where they lay their eggs. At least once a week, empty and clean containers that hold standing water, like planting containers, animal dishes, and flower vases. Keep standing water containers covered between cleanings.