Characteristics Of Dengue Fever

Characteristics and Statistics of the Infectious Disease Dengue Fever

Leslie Charlton

Lincoln Memorial University- Caylor School of Nursing

Characteristics and Statistics of the Infectious Disease Dengue Fever Dengue fever is an infectious disease that is conveyed by mosquitoes that ingest the virus from infected humans. An outbreak of infection is most likely to happen in warm, wet climates. The risk for acquiring dengue fever in the United States is rare, however the main cause of occurrence is to be imported from travelers from foreign countries. Most symptoms are non-life threatening, nevertheless it can become more severe leading to death if symptoms are uncontrolled.

Characteristics

Dengue

The virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. The CDC states, “Aedes aegyti is the most important transmitter or vector in the Western Hemisphere”(CDC, 2012). A female mosquito ingests the humans infected blood during feeding, permitting the mosquito to become infected with the dengue virus. The mosquitoes spreads the virus contracted from human to other humans. According to the National Institute of Health, “Dengue does not spread from person to person”(NIH, 2015). When the mosquitoes contract the dengue virus from humans, World Health Organization indicates, “Mosquitoes experience extrinsic incubation of virus over a period of 8-12 days, and mosquitoes remain infected for a lifetime” (WHO,

Most individuals recover from dengue infection within two weeks. The symptoms of dengue are usually non-life threatening, however if not treated properly and in a timely manner it can become serious resulting in death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “The principle symptoms of dengue fever are high fever, sever headache, severe pain behind the eyes, joint pain, muscle and bone pain, rash, and mild bleeding”(CDC, 2012). Hemorrhagic fever is a life threatening condition that can manifest due to untreated or uncontrolled general symptoms. The CDC explains hemorrhagic fever as, “Fever that lasts 2-7 days, with general signs and symptoms consistent with dengue fever. When fever declines, symptoms include persistent vomiting, severe abdominal pain, and difficulty breathing”(CDC, 2012). If these serious symptoms transpire, it is the beginning of a two-day period of the capillaries becoming permeable and leaking fluid into the peritoneum causing ascites and pleural effusion. This leads to failure of the circulatory system and shock, which causes in death. Complications that can occur with dengue fever include the following: fluid over load due to large pleural effusion and ascites, acute respiratory distress, pulmonary edema, metabolic acidosis, severe shock, hyper/hypoglycemia, electrolyte