What are the symptoms of dengue fever? Recommended treatment and prevention methods

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Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a disease caused by dengue virus infection, transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. It is commonly found in tropical countries and is prevalent during the rainy season every year. Symptoms of dengue fever range from no symptoms to death if not treated promptly.

Dengue fever is currently a public health and medical problem in Thailand because each year there are a large number of patients from all regions, most of whom are children under 15 years old. This disease is more prevalent in the rainy season because there are a lot of Aedes mosquitoes.

What are the symptoms of dengue fever? Recommended treatment and prevention methods

Symptoms of dengue fever are divided into 3 stages:

Stage 1
High fever stage Patients will have a high fever suddenly and the fever will be high all the time for about 2-7 days. Taking fever-reducing medication, the fever usually does not decrease. Red face, red eyes, muscle aches, headache, thirst, loss of appetite, vomiting, lethargy. Some people may have pain in the abdomen below the sternum or right ribs or general abdominal pain. Constipation or loose stools may also occur. Most people do not have a stuffy nose, runny nose or severe coughing, but some people may have a sore throat, red throat and a slight cough around day 3.

A red rash that is not itchy may appear on the arms, legs and torso for about 2-3 days. Some people may have bruises or bleeding spots that look like small red spots on the face, arms, legs, armpits, in the mouth. An enlarged liver may be felt and be tender. In this stage, if the symptoms are severe, symptoms of stage 2 will appear.

Stage 2:
Shock and bleeding. Symptoms usually occur on days 3-7 of the disease, which is considered a critical period. The fever will decrease rapidly, but the patient’s symptoms will often worsen and shock will occur, including restlessness, sweating, cold body, cold hands and feet, little urine output, weak but rapid pulse, low blood pressure, lethargy. In addition, there may be skin bleeding or bruising, nosebleeds, vomiting, and bright blood or coffee-colored stools. This stage lasts for approximately 24-48 hours. If not treated promptly, it can be life-threatening. However, if the patient can survive this critical period, they will enter stage 3.

Stage 3:
Recovery phase: In cases where the patient receives proper and timely treatment, the shock is not severe and the symptoms will start to improve. Symptoms that show that the patient is improving include being able to start eating, sitting up, and the body will gradually recover to normal. This phase may take about 2-3 days, for a total period of dengue fever without complications of about 7-10 days. 

Some patients only have a high fever and can go home once the fever subsides. However, some patients have severe symptoms. This depends on the infection they received and the patient’s own immunity, so the severity of dengue fever symptoms varies from person to person.

During the treatment period until the fever subsides within 48 hours, patients with severe symptoms may go into shock or bleed throughout the body. The cause of death in this disease is shock, severe dehydration of the body (even though we do not see patients with external dehydration). Water in the blood vessels will flow to the surrounding tissues, blood pressure will drop, until shock occurs. But if no symptoms appear, it is considered safe.

How is dengue fever transmitted?

Dengue fever is usually transmitted from person to person, with the Aedes aegypt mosquito as the main vector. The female mosquito will bite and suck the ทางเข้า ufabet https://ufabet999.app blood of a patient with the dengue virus. Then the virus will incubate and multiply in the mosquito, causing the virus to remain in the mosquito throughout its lifespan of about 1-2 months, and then transmit the virus to the person who was bitten. The Aedes mosquito is a mosquito that lives in the house. It usually bites during the day. Its breeding ground is stagnant water in various water containers, such as jars, flower vases, cupboard bases, plates, bowls, cans, pots, tires, or pots, etc.

Dengue fever is most common in the rainy season because children tend to stay home more than in other seasons. In addition, the Aedes mosquito breeds more in the rainy season. In big cities like Bangkok, dengue fever can be found all year round.

Characteristics of the Aedes mosquito that is a vector of dengue fever

The mosquito that is the carrier of dengue fever is the female Aedes mosquito. It has black and white stripes on the abdomen, body and legs. It is commonly found in houses and gardens. *It comes out to feed during the day and reproduces by laying eggs in still water. -It is often found in containers that hold water, such as water jars, flower vases, saucers, rice cabinet legs, old tires and other scraps. 

Treatment of dengue fever

Treatment of dengue fever There is no specific antiviral drug that can eliminate the dengue virus. *Treatment based on symptoms is the most appropriate. Initially, when the fever is high, paracetamol should be given. Aspirin should never be used because it will make the bleeding worse. If there is nausea or vomiting, anti-nausea medication should be used and mineral water or fruit juice should be drunk frequently and small amounts should be given.

The patient should also be closely monitored to prevent shock. Shock usually occurs when the fever has subsided. Parents should be aware of the symptoms, including abdominal pain, decreased urination, restlessness or lethargy, cold hands and feet along with the fever subsiding, dizziness, and easy fainting. If these symptoms occur, the patient should be rushed to the hospital immediately.

Dengue fever prevention

  1. Prevent mosquito bites by sleeping under a mosquito net or in a room with mosquito screens.
  2. Use mosquito repellent or mosquito ointment or spray, and use them with caution.
  3. It should not be in a shady area or a dark corner with little light.
  4. Take a shower and clean your body frequently because sweat attracts more mosquito bites.
  5. Destroy mosquito breeding grounds around your home and nearby.

Here are some ways to control mosquito breeding grounds:

  1. Eliminate – destroy – bury – burn unused container fragments inside and around the house to prevent water from collecting.
  2. Water jars for drinking and using water should be tightly closed.
  3. Add detergent or vinegar or salt or ash or abate sand or pour boiling water into the pan under the cabinet legs every week.
  4. Put guppies in the lotus pond, water tank in the bathroom to eat mosquito larvae.
  5. Scrub water storage containers to remove mosquitoes.
  6. Change the water in flower vases every 7 days to destroy mosquito eggs.
  7. Clean the rain gutters thoroughly.
  8. Improve the environment around your home and community to be clean.

Self-care for dengue fever

  1. In the first 2-3 days of fever, if you can still eat and drink, do not vomit, do not have stomachache, do not have bruises, and do not have bleeding or shock, you should do the following:
    • Give the patient plenty of rest.
    • If there is a high fever, wipe the body frequently with a wet cloth and give paracetamol to reduce the fever. Adults take 1-2 tablets, older children ½ – 1 tablet, young children use 1-2 teaspoons of syrup. If there is still a fever, repeat the
      dose every 6 hours. Never give aspirin, as it can cause easier bleeding.
    • If the patient is a child who has had a seizure, they should take anticonvulsants first.
    • Eat soft foods such as rice soup and congee and drink plenty of water.
    • Closely monitor the patient’s symptoms.
  2. If the patient vomits a lot or has blood or goes into shock, they should be rushed to the hospital.

Things you need to know about dengue fever

Although we know the causes of ‘dengue fever’ and what we should do to stay away from these things, there is still a lot of misconceptions and many things that we don’t know. Today, we will try to review it again to make prevention of dengue fever more complete.

Once you have dengue fever, it will not come back.Actually, this matter is both right and wrong because when you have dengue fever for the first time, your body will have immunity to prevent it from coming back. But! There are 4 strains of the virus that is the source of dengue fever. If you are infected with one strain, you will have immunity to that strain. If you are infected a second time, which is a different strain from the first, your immunity will not be able to protect you from this new strain completely. You may be able to get dengue fever again, and it may be much more severe than before. 

Age group that is infected with dengue fever
From the data collected, it was also found that the age group with the highest incidence of dengue fever was the 10 – 14 year age group, followed by the 5 – 9 year age group, 15 – 24 year age group, 25 – 34 year age group, and finally the 0 – 4 month age group. The patients found to be the most are students. Therefore, when having to live in school, care must be taken not to be bitten or to be in areas with stagnant water which could be a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Despite the large number of patients, there is still no cure for the dengue virus.
It is well known that dengue fever is caused by the dengue virus. Currently, medical science does not have a 100% cure for the disease. The only treatment is symptomatic and shock and bleeding must be closely monitored. Doctors have a treatment principle: give paracetamol when the fever is high. Do not use aspirin because it will make the bleeding worse. Monitor changes in platelets at regular intervals and give fluid replacement because the patient will lose their appetite and vomit, which will cause dehydration and sodium loss. In addition, other complications that may follow must be monitored.