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Back to Infectious Diseases
Dengue fever
Dengue virus is carried by a mosquito (A. aegypti).
Clinical manifestations
After an incubation period of 2 to 7 days, the typical patient experiences
the sudden onset of fever, headache, retroorbital pain, and back pain
along with the severe myalgia that gave rise to the colloquial designation
"break-bone fever." There is often a macular rash on the first day which
is centripetal (mainly in the center of the body) and is characterized
by desquamation. There may also be adenopathy, palatal vesicles, and scleral
injection. The illness may last a week, with additional symptoms usually
including anorexia, nausea or vomiting, marked cutaneous hypersensitivity,
and -- near the time of defervescence -- a maculopapular rash beginning
on the trunk and spreading to the extremities and the face. Epistaxis
and scattered petechiae are often noted in uncomplicated dengue, and preexisting
gastrointestinal lesions may bleed during the acute illness.
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Diagnosis
Laboratory findings include leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and, in many
cases, serum aminotransferase elevations. The diagnosis is made by IgM
ELISA or paired serology during recovery or by antigen-detection ELISA
or RT-PCR during the acute phase. Virus is readily isolated from blood
in the acute phase if mosquito inoculation or mosquito cell culture is
used.
Treatment
Treatment is mainly symptomatic (treatment of the symptoms) as no specific
antiviral therapy for Dengue virus exists.
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