Knowledge Articles | About Dengue

All you should know about Dengue

Dengue is a virus that is caused by a mosquito named Aedes Aegypti. Only the female mosquitoes of Aedes would bite humans and thereby transmit the disease. It is easy to identify Aedes mosquitoes as they have black and white stripes on their body and legs... which is the reason why they are called as Tiger Mosquitoes!

Dengue has a long history of over 1500 years. But it was so rare. Factors like global warming, population growth and travelling has led to severe increase of Dengue by 21st century. The cases of Dengue have grown over 30 fold by this time.

Aedes mosquitoes act differently from other mosquitoes. They can live easily in our houses and bite during the day times. They lay eggs on stagnant fresh water. It is believed that Aedes mosquitoes are more active two hours after the sunrise and two hours before the sunset.

A person attacked with Dengue virus can show symptoms within a week. High fever associated with muscle and joint pains are the most common symptoms. Symptoms like dehydration, vomiting, abdominal pain, suffocation. Rashes, bleeding nose and gums might occur as well.

The platelet count in the people attacked with Dengue would fall down rapidly. Platelets are the blood cells that stop bleeding in case of a bruise. Rapid fall of platelet count can lead to internal bleeding in our body. But the count would get back to normal as the patient recovers.

As Dengue is caused by virus, there are no medicines to treat the disease. Our body has to recover naturally from the disease. However medicines would be given to treat the symptoms such as fever and body pains. Further doctors would see that the disease won't lead to other dangerous effects.

Prevention works better than cure in case of Dengue. We should avoid all the circumstances that could lead to the growth of Aedes mosquitoes. Care should also be taken that we don't get bitten by them by taking the following measures-

- Water should not be allowed to remain stagnant in and around our house. The water let off in flower vases, old tyres, coolers, swimming pools can often be an ideal place for Aedes mosquitoes.

- Mosquito repellents should be switched on even during the day time.

- We should wear such clothes that would fully cover our body.

And finally, a doctor should be consulted as soon as we get feverish and follow his advice and treatment.