Dengue fever has a favorable outcome, but a severe course

Dengue fever is well known to residents of Southeast Asia and those Europeans who often go there on vacation or on business trips. For local residents, such a form as hemorrhagic fever causes many problems with its complications. Europeans, on the other hand, suffer from the classic form of dengue fever, which is usually not complicated by severe consequences, is easily diagnosed, but has a debilitating course in several stages. The doctor should differentiate the disease from malaria and other types of fevers, from infectious toxic shock.

 Dengue fever (bone-breaking fever) is a viral disease most commonly transmitted by mosquitoes. For the development of the virus, certain temperature conditions are necessary, due to & nbsp; with which the disease occurs only in countries of the tropical and subtropical region.

Dengue fever is known in two forms: classic  and hemorrhagic fever. The first of these affects children and those who first came to the countries of this region. Local residents have hemorrhagic fever, which has a staged course and often affecting internal organs.

 Dengue Fever Symptoms and Features

There are four known serotypes of the virus that causes dengue fever. It has now been established that both dengue shock, hemorrhagic fever, and classic dengue can be caused by any of these serotypes. After an illness, the patient acquires strong immunity – but only to the serotype by which it was caused. Hemorrhagic fever occurs only with re-infection.

After a mosquito bite, skin inflammation remains, where the virus accumulates and multiplies. After a week or two, against the background of good health, there is a strong chill with a very high body temperature, patients complain of severe pain in the joints (especially the knees), back pain, nausea, weakness, dizziness. When examining patients, all of them have hyperemia of the pharynx, redness of the sclera, pastosity of the face.

Characteristic features of classic dengue fever:

• at first, the pulse is quickened, from the second day of the disease – slowed down to 40 bpm;
• severe leukopenia;
• enlargement of peripheral lymph nodes;
• severe muscle weakness, myalgia, joint pain;
• polymorphic exanthema.

The course of Dengue fever is debilitating. At first, the temperature rises sharply and strongly. By the third day, she falls critically, remission sets in, and after another 1-3 days, all the symptoms return – the patient has a fever again, suffers from pain in the joints and muscles. The total duration of such drops – 7-9 days. The body is covered with a very itchy profuse rash, which gradually moves to the limbs, and the body begins to peel off. After the acute manifestations of dengue fever have subsided for about a month, the patient feels weakness, pain in muscles and joints, complains of insomnia and lack of appetite.

 Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of Dengue fever

Dengue fever is easy to diagnose if, firstly, the patient's recent stay in an endemic area is known, and secondly, its characteristic manifestations are present – fever in two waves, lymphadenopathy, rash, muscle and joint pain.

There is no specific treatment for Dengue fever, and the prognosis is usually good. In case of shock syndrome or hemorrhagic fever, corticosteroids are used, the prognosis is unfavorable in 50% of cases.

A vaccine against dengue is currently being developed, but is still in clinical evaluation.