Dengue fever is a viral illness caused by a virus that is transmitted by mosquitoes.  As we are in the rainy season, there are more places for mosquitoes to breed and multiply; therefore Dengue cases will be on the rise!

Dengue was originally known as Breakbone Fever and this term helps us to understand the severity of the pain that an individual with this illness will experience along with the other viral symptoms of fever, cough, nasal congestion, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhoea and skin rash.  In Dengue, there is usually pain at the back of the eyes with headaches.  As with any viral illness not all of these symptoms have to be present and they can affect an individual with varying severity. Dengue is well known in tropical climates because affected persons can develop one of the life threatening complications like Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) or Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS).

In DHF, the cells in the blood that are responsible for blood clotting are depleted and the patient can  begin bleeding from any part of the body, i.e. they can cough up blood, have blood in their urine or stool or have easy bruising which will result from bleeding under the skin. This bleeding can be minimal, just streaks of blood or it can be massive and life threatening.

In DSS, the blood vessels are unable to retain fluid within their walls and this fluid leaks outside of them.  This results in a drop in the blood pressure that can lead to a reduced blood flow to all the vital organs, brain, heart and kidneys which then leads to a failure of these vital organs.

As Dengue is a viral illness, there is no specific treatment to remove it from the body. As with all other viruses, the illness will last for about ten days to two weeks.  During this time, the affected individual will be advised to use medication to deal with their specific complaint.  If the individual has mainly fever and pain, then Paracetamol is the drug of choice.  We stated earlier that dengue can affect the cells in the body responsible for blood clotting and it is for this reason that drugs like Voltaren, Cataflam, Ibuprofen, and similar drugs must be avoided in this illness. The drug of choice in Dengue for fever and pain is PARACETAMOL/TYLENOL/ACETAMINOPHEN.  If it is mainly cough and nasal congestion then medication is given to treat cough and blocked nostrils.  The majority of patients will have reduced appetite and it is extremely important that you continue to drink as much fluids as possible so that you do not become dehydrated.

The vast majority of patients with Dengue can be safely treated at home with over the counter medications and an increase in oral fluid intake. As with any illness if there is any worsening of your symptoms or changes occurring that you or other family members are concerned about, then it would be advisable to visit your doctor to be further evaluated. Dengue can be confirmed by a blood test but this is usually not positive until at least four days into the illness, confirmation tells you if you have Dengue, but does not change the doctor’s management.

For more information, contact us at email officeadmin@thesparmanclinic.com or call 1.246.624.3278 or 1.246.62.HEART