Dengue Fever: Signs and Symptoms

Dear, Auntie:

In  your last note, you asked me to tell you what it is like to be sick with Dengue Fever or: what are the Signs and Symptoms of Dengue Infection?

 The video above tells you a little bit about what it is like to have dengue, but we will talk about the details below. 

Figure 1. These are some of the common symptoms associated with
the different stages of Dengue Fever.

The most common symptoms of dengue are a high fever (greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) and at least two of the following [1]:

• Severe headache
• Severe eye pain (behind the eyes)
• Joint pain
• Muscle and/or bone pain
• Rash
• Loss of desire to eat food
• Mild bleeding of nose or gums, easy bruising
• Low white blood cell count when laboratory blood tests are performed

The fever, rash, and join pain are the symptoms which most commonly cause people to seek treatment at a hospital. However, there are several signs that are very serious and require emergency medical treatment. Those are [1]:

• Stomach ache or continued vomiting
• Vomiting blood
• Black, tarry feces
• Drowsiness
• Pale, cool, clammy skin
• Trouble breathing

There are widely considered to be three stages of Dengue Fever. The first is the invasive stage where the infected person may have a fever, abdominal pain, and headache. The patient will usually attribute these symptoms to another illness, such as influenza. However, they usually seek treatment in the invasive stage. The second stage is the toxic/hemorrhagic stage where the client as a risk for bleeding, they usually also have severe abdominal pain/stomach ache, and a low blood pressure. This is the dangerous time, because this is when Dengue Fever is most often fatal. The final stage of Dengue Fever infection is the recovery stage when the patient starts to feel better, the fever goes down, and the blood pressure rises. 

Figure 2. This figure summarizes the stages of Dengue Fever.

References:
1. Symptoms and What to do if You Think You Have Dengue. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/dengue/symptoms/ Updated Sept 27. 2012.