Healthy Living examines dengue fever

It’s that time of the year and around the country hundred have fallen ill with the dengue fever. The symptoms include fever, chills, headaches and vomiting. This week Healthy Living has tips on what to do if you think you’re afflicted.

Marleni Cuellar, Reporting
Dengue Fever or “break bone fever” affects hundreds each year in Belize. The disease is endemic in Belize but the high number of cases in such a short period of time has raised alarm. In July of 2009, the Ministry of Health announced a dengue outbreak.

Dr. Melissa Diaz, Medical Coordinator, Matron Roberts Polyclinic
“Dengue is disease and it’s transmitted through a mosquito and in this case, a mosquito, the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. The symptoms that you get in dengue is the fever as name suggests especially at night time associated with chills or rigors. You also get non-specific symptoms like joint pain lower back pain, lethargy, which is just tiredness patients feeling very weak and classically retro orbital pain – pain at the back of the eye. People describe it as very severe headache or as if the eyes are about to pop out of their head. And that gives us a good idea that yes this could be dengue.”

The symptoms for the Dengue Hemorrhagic are characterized by the severity of the symptoms.

Dr. Melissa Diaz
“The symptoms are also the same except that the fever is many times more severe and the symptoms like the headache is much more severe. With hemorrhagic fever you may also get a rash. You may also get a rash with the classic dengue but with the hemorrhagic fever the rash is more severe and its called petechiae. The reason for the rash is that fever affects the platelets, which is one aspect of the blood cells and the platelets get really low and so that person has the tendency to bleed and for that you see the rash.”

Once you’ve exhibited the symptoms of dengue. You must visit the nearest health center to get a proper diagnosis. Dr. Diaz explains how the disease is confirmed.

Dr. Melissa Diaz
“When the patient comes in we would then have to do a full history, determine especially where they live if they have family members with the same symptoms. Then we look at the symptoms, especially if the symptoms don’t come with any other for instance cold or cough or runny nose or other things then we would then determine whether or not we feel, clinically, that it is dengue. Patients with suspected dengue hemorrhagic fever we would then send them for blood tests. The dengue test is usually recommended to be done three to four days after the onset of symptoms but we would also do something called and F.B.C., a full blood count which we’re looking for the haemoglobin and the platelet count. Once the counts are quite low the treatment would be quite different depending if the patient is starting to bleed or is at risk of bleeding they would then be referred to the hospital.”

Once diagnosed with classic dengue fever, there are treatment options available.

Dr. Melissa Diaz
“At that point treatment would basically be just be resting, plenty of fluids, paracetamol, which is the same thing as Tylenol regularly to keep the temperature down and we also advise that if the Tylenol is not keeping the temperature down, for young children especially, bathe the children regularly or a cool cloth on the head of the child and not wrap them up. So basically it’s just to keep the temperature down and try to keep the pain at bay.”

And in the case of dengue hemorrhagic Fever; there is no specific medication and often times requires it hospitalization.

Dr. Melissa Diaz
“The dengue hemorrhagic fever can lead to dengue shock syndrome which has a very high mortality rate so it is important to try to detect it as soon as possible and get treatment. Dengue fever really would last bout five to seven days approximately that’s the time that somebody would have the symptoms and although the symptoms are severe after five to seven days people quite quickly start to feel much better. The temperature subsides on its own and this is with classic dengue.”

So if you experience a sudden onset of a high fever or symptoms like: Headache, eye Pain or eyeball pain, joint pain, muscle pain, backache, nausea and/or lack of appetite, vomiting, rash and general Weakness, be sure to go to visit your nearest health center for a check up.