Every year 400 million people get infected with dengue virus. Out of these, 100 million become ill with dengue. An estimated 21,000 deaths are attributed to dengue. Around 40% of the world’s population reside in dengue-endemic areas. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dengue is now endemic in over 100 countries. The Americas, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions are the most seriously affected, with Asia representing around 70% of the global disease burden. Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates world-wide.
Dengue fever symptoms
Most people with dengue have mild or no symptoms and will get better in 1–2 weeks. If dengue fever symptoms occur, they usually begin 4–10 days after infection and last for 2–7 days. Dengue symptoms may include:
- high fever (40°C/104°F)
- severe headache
- pain behind the eyes
- muscle and joint pains
- nausea
- vomiting
- swollen glands
- rash
Individuals who are infected for the second time are at greater risk of severe dengue. Severe dengue fever symptoms often come after the fever has gone away.
Severe dengue fever symptoms are:
- severe abdominal pain
- persistent vomiting
- rapid breathing
- bleeding gums or nose
- fatigue
- restlessness
- blood in vomit or stool
- being very thirsty
- pale and cold skin
- feeling weak.
People with these severe symptoms should get care right away.
Dengue fever treatment
Remember that during dengue fever, the body’s immune system needs the right kind of food to fight the virus. It is important to take light, nutritive, warm and easily digestible foods. Along with this, you need to take proper rest and sleep and maintain personal and environmental hygiene for dengue fever treatment.
Food to avoid for dengue patient –
Avoid chilled foods & drinks.
Do not eat leftover food from fridge. Eat freshly cooked warm food.
Avoid strenuous exertion and stressful conditions.
What to eat during dengue fever? Dengue diet chart India
- Have hot milk with jaggery.
- Eat khichdi made from rice, moong dal, sitafal and ghiya.
- Have hot dal (moong dal or arhar dal) with hing tadka. During fever, the digestive system becomes weak too. Hing helps in stimulating the digestive process and is a good traditional cure for cold/fever/soar throat when added to food.
- Have seasonal vegetables cooked with small amount of ghee. A simple jeera tadka is enough. Avoid any kind of strong masala or heavy oil food.
- Simple food like freshly made hot rotis with honey also is soothing comfort food during dengue fever.
How can I get relief from dengue fast?
If you have dengue fever symptoms, try these herbal water infusions. It can aid in dengue fever treatment.
- Consume 2 gram Shunthi (Dry Ginger) powder twice daily with infusion prepared by adding 5 gram (one teaspoonful) of Guduchi (Giloye) powder. Boil the ingredients in one glass of water for 6 to 7 minutes. Let the water come down to lukewarm state. Then one teaspoon of honey can be added to the infusion.
- The above dose for children between 6 to 12 years of age will be half.
- For children below 6 years the dose will be one fourth.
- In one liter of water, boil 10-15 Tulsi leaves and 10-15 gram Dhania (Coriander) powder for ten minutes. Have a cup of this infused water at intervals of 4 hours in a day. You can slightly warm this before drinking.
- Check other home remedies for dengue fever here.
How dengue spreads?
You can’t catch dengue from another person. Only if you get bitten by infected mosquito, you will get dengue.
The female Aedes Aegypti usually becomes infected with the dengue virus when it takes a blood meal from a person during the acute febrile (viremia) phase of dengue illness.
The virus is transmitted when the infected female mosquito bites and injects its saliva into a person. The cycle of dengue continues by this process. Dengue begins abruptly after an intrinsic incubation period of 4 to 7 days (range 3—14 days). There is also evidence of vertical transmission of dengue virus from infected female mosquitoes to the next generation.
There are four types of the virus that cause dengue. These are known as DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, DEN-4. Infection by one type gives immunity to that type, but does not give immunity against the other types.
The key is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes when visiting an area where the infection is found.
Humans are the main host of the virus. Some studies have shown that in some parts of the world monkeys may become infected and perhaps serve as a source of virus for uninfected. The virus circulates in the blood of infected humans for two to seven days.
Vectors of dengue transmission
Aedes Aegypti is the main vector of dengue transmission in India. Dengue outbreaks have also been attributed to Aedes albopictus.
The dengue mosquito is a peri-domestic (insects that live both inside and outside) and domestic (insects that live their entire lives in homes and buildings) breeder. There are many places of breeding for mosquitoes. Breeding can occur in any water-storage containers, such as desert coolers, flower vases, coconut shells, construction sites, over head uncovered or partially covered water tanks, discarded buckets, tyres, utensils and large containers used for collecting rain water which are not emptied and cleaned periodically. The mosquitoes rest indoors on various objects, in closets, under the bed or table, and other dark places.
Outside, they rest where it is cool and shady. Aedes mosquito can fly upto a limited distance of 400 metres but can spread over vast distances mechanically in various types of vehicles used by man. The outbreaks of DF/DHF are most likely to occur in post-monsoon period when the breeding of the mosquitoes is highest.
Dengue vaccination by Indian scientists
Scientists from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS)-Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bengaluru, in collaboration with several Indian institutes, have developed a dengue DNA vaccine candidate.
The team of scientists achieved this by selecting a part of an important viral protein from four different variations of the dengue virus. This viral protein helped them to develop the vaccine candidate as a ‘consensus vaccine’ that could be effective against different dengue viral variants.
The virus that causes dengue has four types with four different viral antigens – essentially proteins causing infection, against which antibodies are created.
Additionally, the researchers also selected NS1 protein from the DENV2 viral variation, which is known to cause severe dengue with internal bleeding and drop in blood pressure.