Dengue fever facts

• Dengue fever is a disease caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes.
• Symptoms include severe joint and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes,headache, fever, exhaustion, and rash. The presence of fever, rash, and headache (the "dengue triad") is characteristic of dengue fever.
• Dengue is prevalent throughout the tropics and subtropics.
• Because dengue fever is caused by a virus, there is no specific medicine or antibiotic to treat it. For typical dengue fever, the treatment is directed toward relief of the symptoms (symptomatic treatment).
• The acute phase of the illness with fever and muscle pain lasts about one to two weeks.
• Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is a specific syndrome that tends to affect children under 10 years of age. It causes abdominal pain, hemorrhage (bleeding), and circulatory collapse (shock).
• The prevention of dengue fever requires control or eradication of the mosquitoes carrying the virus that causes dengue.
• There is currently no vaccine to prevent dengue fever.