What is dengue fever?

What is Dengue Fever?

Dengue fever is a viral disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause fever, headache, pain behind the eyes, joint and muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and rash. It is also known as “break-bone fever” because of the severe joint and muscle pain it causes.

It is a mosquito-borne tropical disease that can be deadly.

Dengue virus is an RNA virus belonging to the genus Flavivirus. The four serotypes, DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4 are found in different geographical regions.

What causes dengue fever?

The virus is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito from the Aedes genus, primarily Aedes aegypti. The virus enters the human body through a cut in the skin or by inhalation of droplets from the mosquito’s mouth. The infection usually presents itself as a flu-like illness with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, fever, and muscle pain (myalgia). In some cases, it may progress to cause more serious symptoms such as bleeding from the nose or gums and hemorrhagic fever.

Symptoms of Dengue Fever –

Symptoms of dengue are similar to other flu’s, but dengue is much more serious. A person with dengue fever may have a high fever, headache, pain in muscles and joints, nausea, vomiting, rash (on the body or inside the mouth), and slight bleeding from the nose or gums.
Dengue symptoms can last from a few days to weeks but they often go unnoticed because they are similar to other diseases such as malaria or flu. To be diagnosed with dengue fever, one needs to have had symptoms for at least five days or have a confirmed.

An individual with dengue fever may notice:

1. High Fever
2. Severe Headache
3. Nausea
4. Vomiting
5. Rash
6. Pain behind the eyes and in the joints, muscles, and/or bones
7. Bleeding from the nose or gums

How does dengue fever spread?

Dengue fever spreads when a person is bitten by an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes become infected with the dengue virus when they feed on the blood of someone already infected with the virus.

The virus can also be transmitted by sharing food and drinks with someone who has dengue fever. The virus can survive for up to 2 weeks in a container that was used for storage of contaminated food or drink.

It can also be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

The World Health Organization says that there are around 390 million people infected with dengue fever each year.