Dengue Fever is a painful mosquito-borne disease. It is caused by any one of four types of Dengue virus, which is caused by any one of four types of Dengue virus, which is transmitted by the bite of an infected Female Aedes aegypti mosquito. Common symptoms of Dengue include high fever, runny nose a mild skin rash, cough and pain behind the Eyes and in the joints. However, some people may develop a red and white patchy skin rash followed by loss of appetite, nausea vomiting etc. patients suffering from dengue should seek medical advice, rest and drink plenty of fluids.
Paracetamol can be taken to bring down fever and reduce joints pain. However, aspirin or ibuprofen should not be taken since they can increase the risk of Bleeding.
The risk of complications is in less then 1% of dengue cases and if warning signals are known to the public, all death from dengue can be avoided.
Dengue NS1-Best test is NS1 cannot be false positive is + from day 1 to 7 ideally. If on day 1 is negative repeat it next day.
Always ask for ELISA based NS1 tests as card tests are misleading.
Value of IgG & IgM dengue in a patient with reduced platelets and looking “sick” on day 3 or 4 of illness, a very high titre of IgG with borderline rise in Igm signifies secondary dengue. These patients are more prone to complications.
In primary dengue IgG becomes + at end of 7 days while IgM is + after day 4.
Immature platelet fraction / IPF A very useful test in Dengue for patients with thrombocytopenia if IPF in such a patient is > 10% despite a platelet count of 20000 he is out of danger and platelets will rise in 24 hours.
If its 6% repeat the same next day. Now if IPF has increased to 8% his platelets will certainly increase with 48 hours.
If its less then 5%, then his bone marrow will not respond for 3-4 day & may be a likely candidate for platelet transfusion. Better to do an IPF even with borderline low platelet count.
A low mean platelet volume or MPV means platelets are functionally inefficient and such patients need more attention.
