Physician warns of more dangerous form of dengue
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Southeast Asia’s rainy season has arrived and with it the annual spike in dengue cases.
Dengue takes two major forms: dengue fever (DF) and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF).
DF is the milder form of the disease. It has an incubation period of five to seven days and comes with fever, skin rashes and cold symptoms that respond to antipyretics. It ends in about seven days without any complications.
DHF can cause bleeding in the nose (epistaxis), from the gastrointestinal tract, from the gums and, sometimes, profuse menstruation (menorrhagia). Usually, patients begin to bleed when their platelet count drops below 100,000.
If necessary, transfusion of the platelet concentrate is carried out. Cortico-steroids do not work when the patient goes into shock.
The dengue vaccine has a protection rate of about 63 per cent for DF and 90 per cent for DHF. Still, DHF has a mortality rate of 10 per cent.
We have a rapid-test kit, but it cannot differentiate between DF and DHF. Those with DF can be treated at home, but all cases of DHF must be treated in hospital.
Eliseo R Reblando
Director, Veronica General Clinic, |Olongapo City, Philippines
(From Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN)
