What is Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever?
Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) is a disease caused by viruses mainly transmitted by Aedes aegypti (a type of mosquito), though other species of mosquito can also transmit this disease. DHF is popularly known as the “break-bone disease” because most of its victims suffer from muscle and joint pain. Diagnosis of dengue should be done promptly because the disease may progress so fast that saving the life of the patient may be impossible. This is harder than most would have thought because the first signs and symptoms of DHF are not symptom-specific.
Dengue is commonly occurring in tropical and sub-tropical areas. It is endemic in countries around the equator and potentially affects over 2.5 billion people. There are many efforts made by government and non-government organizations to at least curb down or eliminate the risk of developing DHF. Some of these efforts were successful but there is still so much work to do.
Pathophysiology of DHF
Dengue virus needs a host to thrive. When it is contracted by a mosquito, the dengue virus will stay in the saliva and when the mosquito bites a person, the saliva carrying the virus will enter the skin. The virus … Read the rest