Dengue : The Mini Monster

Have you ever got high grade fever with chills?

Have you got a severe bodyache and extreme weakness?

And were you hospitalised for the same?

If yes, there are high chances you must have suffered from Dengue.

Why Is dengue a major health hazard in India?

Why do we have to be extra cautious and vigilant while treating patients of dengue?

And what makes dengue different from other diseases?

You get a bite of an Aedes Mosquito and following a week , you start developing high grade fever, extreme weakness, severe bodyache and nearly complete loss of appetite.

You will be surprised to know that The bodyache in dengue is so severe that it's also known as 'Break bone fever'!

So these were the symptoms of dengue, now let's talk about why is it a major health hazard?

The most common reason is that the aedes mosquito, which are the vectors of this virus, develops very rapidly in stagnant waters that frequently occurs in monsoon season and that is why we find dengue patients almost exclusively in monsoon season only!

The other thing which makes the spread of the viruses faster is the nature of its vector. That means the aedes mosquito. These mosquitoes are also known as Fearless biters or Nervous biters! That means these aedes mosquitos are not at all scared of humans. They can even bite you while you are moving out of your home and getting into your car or while getting out of the lift or taking a casual walk! And.. you might not even realise you have been bitten by them!

Moving to the second question. Why do we have to be extra careful and more vigilant for dengue patients.? A lot many reasons..! First one, dengue doesn't have a specific treatment. You have to literally wait till the viruses evacuate your body by itself.. and this time is around 8-12 days.. and till that time .. there are high chances of organ damage , specifically kidney damage and liver damage! And if the platelet count drops below 1 lakh, there are high chances of spontaneous bleeding followed by a drop in blood pressure and multiple organ failure which might even cause death of the patient. Yes.. it's shocking to know but a mosquito bite can cost you your entire life! So it's always good to be one step ahead while dealing with dengue!

Moving on to third question! What makes dengue different from other diseases? A lot many things. First, dengue is one of the most deadly forms of viral hemorrhagic fevers. That means such viral fever where you have higher chances of hemorrhage, that means leaking of blood from the blood vessels due to strikingly low levels of platelets which are essential for clotting of blood and stopping it's further loss! Second, it almost always requires hospitalization because a) continuous  intravenous fluids are the best form of supportive treatment which can significantly retard the rapid progression of the disease and b) it also controls the extreme weakness and bodyache.

Also it is very important to note that even with severe bodyache and joint pains it is not advisable to consume pain killers. Paracetamol is the best form of supportive treatment for patients of dengue, for controlling fever and for bodyache too!

You will be surprised to know that if the platelet count falls below 20,000 ... The patient might require platelet transfusion. And every year during the monsoon. We find thousands of such dengue patients and blood banks run out of platelet units for transfusion. So if at all you or your near ones regularly donate blood, make sure you donate atleast once during the monsoon season.

So coming to the most important point! How to treat dengue?? You must have to make a visit to your doctor as soon as you observe the symptoms listed initially!

If a dengue test is positive start taking complete bed rest along with medications, the platelet count needs to be checked every alternate day initially and if the count falls below 1 lakh it needs to be checked daily till a rising trend in platelet returns. The parameters that doctors observe in patients of dengue is their platelet counts, blood pressure, urine output, liver function and presence or absence of bleeding.

It is very striking to note that bleeding related to dengue could be so severe that it is very tough to control once it starts.

Dengue is a monster, one needs to be brave enough to fight it off!