Dengue Fever
Dengue (pronounced DENgee) fever is a painful, debilitating mosquito-borne disease caused by any one of four closely related dengue viruses. These viruses are related to the viruses that cause West Nile infection and yellow fever.
An estimated 390 million dengue infections occur worldwide each year, with about 96 million resulting in illness. Most cases occur in tropical areas of the world, with the greatest risk occurring in:
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The Indian subcontinent
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SouthEast Asia
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Southern China
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Taiwan
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The Pacific Islands
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The Caribbean (except Cuba and the Cayman Islands)
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Mexico
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Africa
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Central and South America (except Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina)
Most cases in the United States occur in people who contracted the infection while travelling abroad. But the risk is increasing for people living along the Texas-Mexico border and in other parts of the southern United States.
Diagnosis
Diagnosing dengue fever can be difficult, because its signs and symptoms can be easily confused with those of other diseases — such as malaria, leptospirosis and typhoid fever
Your doctor will likely ask about your medical and travel history. Be sure to describe international trips in detail, including the countries you visited and the dates, as well as any contact you may have had with mosquitoes.
Certain laboratory tests can detect evidence of the dengue viruses, but test results usually come back too late to help direct treatment decisions.
Treatment
No specific treatment for dengue fever exists. Your doctor may recommend that you drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration from vomiting and a high fever.
While recovering from dengue fever, watch for signs and symptoms of dehydration. Call your doctor right away if you develop any of the following:
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Decreased urination
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Few or no tears
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Dry mouth or lips
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Lethargy or confusion
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Cold or clammy extremities
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 severe dengue fever, you may need:
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Supportive care in a hospital
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Intravenous (IV) fluid and electrolyte replacement
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Blood pressure monitoring
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Transfusion to replace blood loss
Dengue fever mosquito
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection.
This may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash. Recovery generally takes two to seven days. In a small proportion of cases, the disease develops into the life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, or into dengue shock syndrome, where dangerously low blood pressure occurs.
Dengue is spread by several species of mosquito of the Aedes type, principally A. aegypti. The virus has five different types; infection with one type usually gives lifelong immunity to that type, but only short-term immunity to the others. Subsequent infection with a different type increases the risk of severe complications. A number of tests are available to confirm the diagnosis including detecting antibodies to the virus or its RNA
Here are some videos from Youtube that show you how it looks like.
Credit to the owner of the video
