Dengue: Symptoms, Prevention, and Treatment!

Let us here discuss different Water borne diseases that can range from being mild to even fatal.

Let’s first know the symptoms, prevention and possible treatment for Dengue:

Dengue is a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) to humans which breeds mainly in water collections in artificial containers.

Symptoms of Dengue: Severe headache, high fever (usually around 104°F), muscle and joint pain, vomiting, rashes or bruises on the skin and pain behind the eyes are some common symptoms.

How to prevent Dengue: There is no vaccine for this disease. The mosquitoes that spread dengue are active during the day time. You must wear clothes that cover as much of your body as possible, use mosquito nets while sleeping during the day, use mosquito repellants (containing DEET, Picaridin or IR3535), use coils and vaporizers and use window screens at all times

Cover, empty and clean the water storage containers on a weekly basis, dispose solid waste properly, do not let any stagnant water ponds or containers in the community, as mosquitoes lay eggs in stagnant water, apply appropriate insecticides to outdoor water storage containers, if any.

Treatment of Dengue: Though there is no specific treatment for dengue, the focus is on symptomatic treatment only. Paracetamol is often used to control pain. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and aspirin are avoided, as they increase the risk of bleeding. Though in some severe cases, hospitalization is also needed.

Source:- 1. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dengue-and-severe-dengue