Symptoms of Dengue Fever

Dengue is an important tropical fever disease that is usually caused in the rainy season. Its prime cause is the Aedes mosquito bite (Tiger mosquito). Dengue is one of the deadliest diseases causing mortality in India. There is no vaccine to prevent the same and environmental and habitual restraints are the only way to prevent breeding of dengue causing mosquitoes. It is also important to know the signs and symptoms associated with Dengue so that timely action can be taken. Please note that in Dengue early detection and timely treatment is essential.

Symptoms associated with Dengue:

• Begin with 4 to 6 days after infection and lasts for up to 10 days.
• Sudden high fever is typical of dengue.
• This fever can be mistaken for FLU or other viral infections.
• Fever is associated with a severe headache (persists for hours)
• Fever is also associated with severe joint muscle pain (Break Bone Fever)
• There may be pain behind eyes particularly aggravated by movement
• Many patients complain of fatigue.
• Some patient may present with nausea/vomiting.
• Importance feature of dengue is skin rash which appears 2-5 days after onset of fever
• Some bleeding like bleeding gum, bleeding nose, may be feature.
• Younger children and people who have severe had the infection before tend to have milder cases.
• Older children and adults tend to have severe types.
• Usually, dengue for force is self-limiting but in some patients, serious problems can develop.
• The patient may present with dengue hemorrhagic fever which may include damage to the blood vessel. There may also be low platelet count leads to bleeding from nose & gums.
• Enlargement of the liver leading to failure of the circulating system.

These symptoms may progress to massive bleeding, shocks and even death. Hence it is important to be informed.