DENGUE FEVER

Dengue Fever (dɛŋgeɪ) - also called "Break-Bone Fever," is a set of four closely related viruses (four closely related virus serotypes) of the genus Flavivirus - a genus that also includes West Nile virus, Yellow Fever, and others which cause encephalitis. Dengue Fever generates a rapid onset of fever and will usually last from six to seven days, accompanied by muscle ache and joint pain, and red petechiae (spots of broken capillaries) along the legs and torso. It may also include gastric symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) is a variant of this disease that can include hemorrhagic phenomena (bleeding in the lungs), thrombocytopenia (low level of blood platelets that can cause bleeding from gums, etc.), bloody stool, vomiting blood, spontaneous bruising, etc. This form of Dengue Fever is very dangerous and can lead to Dengue Shock Syndrome, which can be fatal. Taking aspirin for the symptoms of Dengue can be dangerous, given that aspirin can increase the tendency to bleed.

This disease is transmitted by mosquito (or blood transmission) and only from an infected person who is still febrile (in the thralls of the disease). Dengue Fever is distributed across equatorial (and most often tropical) environments, namely Central America, Northern South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, South Central Asia, Northern Australia, Indonesia, and Western Polynesia. The distribution of Dengue fever is not limited to rural areas - outbreaks commonly occur in urban areas within these latitudes. Given that Dengue Fever can be caused by one of four serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, DEN-4), a person who has contracted Dengue will only be immune to that specific strain/serotype (cross-immunity appears to be very short lived or non-existant) and can contract it again, from one of the other three serotypes.

Dengue is commonly transmitted by the Yellow Fever Mosquito (Aedes aegypti) [photo above] which feeds in the daytime, and in some cases the Asian Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus).

Resources:
• The CDC Travelers' Health page on Dengue Fever.

• The CDC page on Dengue.