Dengue fever is one of the most severe forms of the viral fevers. There are not many causes of dengue fever. It is only caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted to human beings through mosquito bites. The specific striped mosquito, referred as Aedes mosquito, is solely responsible for spreading the dengue fever viruses. These mosquitoes usually breed in the rainy season. They also breed rapidly in stale water such as ponds, pits, and flower pots. These mosquitoes usually bite during the day time only. Almost all of the tropical and semitropical regions are prone dengue fever.
Causes of Dengue Fever
When a mosquito carrying dengue fever virus bites a healthy human, the virus travels in the blood stream and then starts multiplying itself in the whole body. Dengue fever is not contagious, which means one person cannot pass it directly to another.
Dengue fever is also a type of arbovirus, which is short for arthropod-borne virus. The main virus causing dengue fever is carried by a mosquito named “Aedes aegypti” which transmits the virus to humans through its bite. An organism that carries a disease, without actually developing the disease itself, is called a vector. Aedes aegypti works as a vector for transmitting the disease.
An another cause for dengue fever is a virus name flaviviruses. More than 100 million cases of dengue fever occur every year in a whole world. A little bit percent of these develop into dengue hemorrhagic fever. It is possible for a traveler who has returned to the United States to pass the infection to someone who has not traveled. Risk factors for dengue hemorrhagic fever include having antibodies to dengue virus from prior infection and being younger than 12, female, or Caucasian.
Symptoms of Dengue Fever
Dengue fever begins with a sudden high fever, often as high as 104 – 105 degrees Fahrenheit, 4 to 7 days after the infection.The symptom of Dengue is a sharp fever in spite of the fact that the patient is not coughing and he doesn’t feel an acute pain in his body. Most of the time, dengue fever is accompanied by an acute pain in the bones and that’s why this kind of fever is called bone-breaking fever, too. When the patient suffers from Dengue he feels an acute pain in his forehead in his inner side of his eyes, and in his eyes and joints. The loss of taste and appetite, the appearance of small spots on chest and vomiting and nausea are another few symptoms of this fever.
Dengue also provokes hemorrhage and the patient is irritated by the light, he is vomiting and he can’t rest. It might be repeated attacks of this fever, especially after rains. Hemorrhagic dengue often provokes internal bleeding.
The patients that suffer from hemorrhage confront with an acute and continuous stomachache, yellowish and sticky skin, cols, and red raised spots on hands, feet and face. The patients bleed through nose, mouth or anus and he can become unconscious because of this. More on, the patient is repeated vomiting, he cannot rest and sleep, his mouth gets dry and he feels a continuously thirst. Hemorrhagic dengue is very dangerous and can lead to the death of the patient. And the worst thing is that it resembles very well the normal fever.
Other symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Headache (especially behind the eyes)
- Joint aches
- Muscle aches
- Nausea
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Vomiting
Exams and Tests
Tests that may be done to diagnose this condition include:
- Antibody titer for dengue virus types
- Complete blood count (CBC)
- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for dengue virus types.
Treatments of Dengue Fever
Dhatura is an Ayurvedic version of the well-known belladonna. Using the leaves of this plant you can reduce seriously the effects of dengue fever. But consider the fact that it is very important not to use more than 2 decigrams because this plant can lead to bad negative symptoms like dilatation of the pupils or dryness of the mouth.
The Aedes aegypti is a great enemy of fevers. It increases the urinary output, helps the digestion, and promotes antibodies so the patient heals and recovers faster.
Raw papaya leaves are of a great help in dengue fever, too. Clean, pound and squeeze 2 pcs. You will obtain a tablespoon from each leaf. You can take 2 tablespoons on serving only once a day. You must consider the fact that if you will cook, boil or rinse the leaves with hot water they will loose their strength.