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Understanding what Dengue is
Infectious disease caused by four different types of viruses and transmitted by the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquito. It evolves mainly in urban areas and, from the 1970s onwards, large outbreaks affected Latin America, Africa and Asia. Since the 1980s, it has tended to appear epidemically in the summer, when rains are more frequent, as pockets of stagnant water encourage the reproduction of the transmitting mosquito. The death rate from the disease is 15% to 20%. But, if identified in time, dengue is treatable and is completely curable, leaving no sequelae.
Forms of Dengue
There are three clinical forms of the disease: classic dengue, hemorrhagic dengue and dengue shock syndrome. In the classic form, the disease causes headaches and muscle pain, skin rashes, involvement of the upper airways, fever and enlargement of the lymphatic glands. Dengue hemorrhagic fever also causes gastrointestinal, skin, gum and nasal bleeding and is often fatal. This case occurs when the person has already had the disease and is reinfected by one of the other types of viruses.
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Dengue Treatment
If not treated immediately, it leads to death in 50% cases and can progress to the most serious form, dengue shock syndrome. This, more common among children under 15 years of age, causes circulatory failure and, without treatment, the death rate reaches 80%.
There is no vaccine against dengue, and the best form of prevention is insecticides and the elimination of stagnant water, where the transmitting mosquito usually breeds. In Brazil, according to the Ministry of Health, 20 thousand cases of the disease were reported in 2017.
