Where the world is trying to overcome the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, the epidemic of the dengue virus is placing more pressure on health care centers in different parts of the world. Some of the countries, including Pakistan, are being severely affected. The dengue virus jumped from primates apes to humans, and now hundreds of people die every year due to the dengue virus infection.
What is dengue?
The dengue is a single-stranded RNA virus carried and transmitted by a female mosquito of genus Aedes called aegypti Aedes, the carrier of chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika viruses. The dengue virus exists in four different types, from which one can be immuned once it causes the infection, but others can cause the illness several times.
The virus enters the body through the mosquito bite and causes severe flu and malaria-like illness. The mosquito bites because she needs a protein for the maturation of her eggs, which is present in the blood. When the mosquito bites, it transfer the virus into the blood, which results in the breakdown of blood cells, especially the WBC and the platelets.
The aegypti Aedes mosquito is recognizable due to the white marks present on its body, especially on legs and joints. After a week of a mosquito bite, the symptoms appear, including high fever, vomiting, headache, joint pain, and sometimes severe dengue shock.
Where does it breed?
The mosquito mainly grows in moist and water areas such as flower pots, the walls of the water tank, Unused swimming pools, and clogged drains. The mosquito is most active and bites at dawn and dusk in the monsoon season, where the monsoon rainwater provides an area for the mosquito to breed. The average lifespan of an adult Aedes mosquito is 2 to 4 weeks, but its larva can survive about a year.
Sign and Symptoms
The signs and symptoms of dengue vary from mild to severe. The symptoms appearance takes 7 to 14 days after the mosquito bites that carry the virus.
The mild symptoms include;
1. fever
2. Headache
3. Vomiting
4. Joints pain
5. Rashes on the skin
6. Redness of the eyes
The severe symptoms include
1. Bleeding gums
2. Low level of platelets
3. Breakdown of blood vessels results in internal bleeding
4. Blood appearance on feeses, vomiting
Treatment
There is no specific treatment for dengue. The patient needs to drink a lot of water and other liquid such as juices to prevent dehydration because intense vomiting can cause body dehydration. Use the pain killer for fever and headache.
In severe symptoms and weakness, the patient must get hospitalized, use drips, and follow the blood transfusion process.
Prevention
There is no vaccine for the dengue virus. The best way of prevention is;
1. Prevent yourself from a mosquito bite
2. Wear clothes that cover the whole body, avoid a sleeveless shirt and short pants.
3. Use mosquito repellent cream to prevent mosquito bites.
4. Use nets over the bed if the house is not screened well.
5. Avoid being outside at the time of dawn and dusk.
6. The Aedes mosquito mostly bread in clean water, so regular check of the house's containers can also prevent the growth of mosquitoes.
7. Avoid going to the city and countries that are at risk of dengue infection.
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