Symptoms, Causes and risk factors of Dengue

Dengue fever results in high fever i.e. 104 F degree and at least 2 of the below-given symptoms:

• A headache
• Nausea
• Muscle, bone & Joint pain
• Vomiting
• Swollen glands
• Pain behind eyes
• Rash

Most of the individuals heal up in around a week. In certain cases, the symptoms worsen & may become Fatal. Blood vessels often get damaged & leaky. The count of platelets or the clot-forming cells in a patient’s bloodstream also drops. This may lead to a severe dengue fever known as dengue hemorrhagic fever, dengue shock syndrome or severe dengue. This is a life-threating emergency condition.

The signs & symptoms of a dengue hemorrhagic fever or a severe dengue include:-

• Severe abdominal pain
• Bleeding from nose and gums
• Persisting vomiting
• Blood in vomit, urine or stool
• Rapid or difficult breathing
• Bleeding under the skin which also may appear bruised
• Fatigue
• Cold or clammy skin
• Restlessness or irritability

Causes of Dengue:

Dengue fever is a result of 1 or more kinds of dengue viruses that are spread by mosquitoes thriving in & near human lodgings. The virus enters into a mosquito when it bites someone infected with the virus. Then when the mosquito bites some other individual, the virus also penetrates the bloodstream of this person.

Once an individual recovers from a dengue fever, he gains immunity to the virus type that infected him, however, not the other 3 dengue virus types. The risk of developing a severe dengue rather increases if he is infected twice, thrice or for a 4^th time.

Risk factors associated with Dengue Fever:

• Staying or traveling in some tropical area– Living in a tropical & subtropical area raises our risk of being exposed to the virus which causes dengue fever. Especially in some of the high-risk areas of the world i.e. Southeast Asia, Latin America, Western Pacific Islands & the Caribbean.
• Prior infection with dengue virus– An earlier infection with dengue virus raises our risk of having the severe symptoms if we are infected again.