DENGUE : DEFINITION,TYPES, STAGES, SYMPTOMS, CAUSES AND MORE

OVERVIEW

Dengue fever, that is more commonly known as dengue is a kind of and acute mosquito – borne viral disease that has a very sudden onset.

This kind of viral infection is caused by the bite of an infected mosquito as in case of malaria. In case of malaria the mosquito that causes the infectious disease is female Anopheles mosquito. In this case, that is in case of this kind of viral infection, the mosquito that is responsible for spreading the disease is a mosquito of Aedes species ( either Ae. aegypti or Ae. albopictus )mosquito.

Dengue fever or this type of viral disease is very common in most of the countries especially that are located in the tropical and sub – tropical regions. A very noticebale amount of population of the entire world are currently living in areas that are at maximum risk of having this kind of viral infection.

In case of mild stage of this kind of viral disease, a person usually has a very high very and some specific flu – like symptoms. If this kind 0of viral infection is not treated in the mild stage itself the disease may turn into a severe one and a person might experience hemorrhagic dengue fever which can sometimes cause serious bleeding and a sudden drop in the blood pressure and in some cases it can eventually lead to death of the person.

Only a few treatments are available for this kind of viral infection. There is no specific vaccination present currently that can cure this kind of viral infection. In regions that are at a very higher risk of getting this kind of viral infection have some treatments that majorly aim at preventing any kind of infection from this this kind of viral disease majorly by preventimg mosquito bites and by taking steps towards reducing mosquito population.

 

TYPES OF DENGUE

The type of dengue fever in this case of viral disease specifically means the kind of causative agent that is infecting the person.

The virus that causes this kind of viral disease belongs to the family named Flaviviridae. This Flaviviridae family of the viruses basically has 4 serotypes. The kind of serotype that infects the person basically indicates the type of dengue that infected person is having. The four serotypes of this kind of virus family that is responsible for causing this kind of viral infection are listed below :

• DENV – 1
• DENV – 2
• DENV – 3
• DENV – 4

These are the major serotypes that are responsible for causing this kind of viral infection.

 

STAGES OF DENGUE

The stage of this kind of viral disease indicates that at what phase of the disease the person is at currently that is either mild or sever stage. There are basically 3 stages of this kind of viral infection. The three stages of this kind of viral infection are listed and described below :

Stage 1 :

• Stage 1 is the initial stage of this kind of viral infection that occurs between 1 to 5 days of the onset of the disease.
• This stage 1 is basically the acute fever stage
• In this stage few symptoms like rising of body temperature, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, etc. occurs in the person who is infected by this kind of viral disease.
• The patients are usually prescribed anti – pyritic drugs like paracetamol for improvement of their condition.
• If the person is experiencing a lot of appetite especially in case of children, the patient might need medical attention urgently.

Stage 2 :

• This stage 2 is the critical stage of this kind of viral infection.
• This critical stage occurs from almost about day 5 – 7 from the onset of disease.
• In this stage due to sudden drop of the body temperature, the body fluid leaks and this eventually leads to the drop of blood pressure in the body.
• The patients usually experience symptoms like fast pulse, cold clammy skin an in severe cases the infected people might also have a very low platelet count that can eventually lead to death in severe cases.
• In this stage it is very necessary for the patients to receive an appropriate intravenous fluid to prevent the poor blood perfusion to the vital organs that are present in the body.

Stage 3 :

• Stage 3 is usually the recovery phase in most of the cases.
• It normally take few days to few weeks for a person to get back to normal stage.
• In this stage 3 the people start to recover and gain back appetite and usually have a slower pulse rate and this condition is known as brachycardia, and the patients usually tend to pass more water in this recover stage that is also known as diuresis.
• Usually in maximum people who are infected by this kind of viral disease stage 3 is the recovery stage if the disease is treated well at the prior two initial stages of the disease.
• If the disease is not treated well in the initial stages of the disease, then this stage 3 might be the most dangerous and the last stage of the disease.

 

SYMPTOMS OF DENGUE

There are various symptoms that a person experiences when he or she is infected by this kind of viral infection. The kind of symptoms that a person experiences entirely depend at what stage of the disease the person is suffering currently. Some of the common symptoms that a person experiences when he or she is infected by this kind of viral disease are listed below :

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Rash
• Eye pain (usually behind the eyes)
• Muscle pain
• Joint pain
• Belly pain
• Tenderness
• Bleeding nose or gums
• Blood in stool
• Restlesness
• Irritability
• Swollen glands

 

CAUSES OF DENGUE

• The main and the most important cause of this kind of viral infection is the virus of family Flaviviridae
• When this virus infects a mosquito, specifically aedes mosquito and this infected mosquito bites a healthy person then this causes dengue fever in a healthy person
• The other risk factors include a person living or travelling in tropical areas
• Having history of dengue fever in the past

 

DIAGNOSIS OF DENGUE

There are various diagnostic tests that are present to diagnose this kind of viral infection. Some of the diagnostic tests that a person might consider when he or she is suspected to have been infected by this kind of viral infection are listed below :

• Physical examination
• Several blood tests
• Examining travel history of the patient
• Examining medical history of the patient

 

TREATMENTS OF DENGUE

There are various treatments that are available for the treatment of kind of viral infection. Some of the treatments are listed below :

• Monitoring of blood pressure
• Supportive care in the hospital
• Intravenous (IV) fluid and electrolyte replacement
• Transfusion to replace blood loss