Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever or DHF is an infection spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito with major public health effects for millions of people throughout the world, especially in the Asian region.
DHF is a seasonal infectious disease that continues to be a frightening threat to parents. The reason is, dengue fever in children can have fatal consequences if it is not diagnosed or if it is too late to receive treatment from a doctor. So to find out more about the symptoms of dengue fever in children, the phases of transmission, as well as how to treat and prevent it, read this article in full.
Symptoms of Dengue Fever
How dengue is transmitted
Dengue fever cannot be transmitted from one person to another. The only way of transmission is from female mosquitoes which carry the virus to humans.
Dengue fever is a disease caused by the dengue virus which is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The Aedes aegypti mosquito breeds very easily in standing water, in areas with warm, tropical and humid climates. This makes dengue cases more frequent during the rainy season.
The dengue virus is transmitted through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito which carries the virus. When the mosquito bites a child, the virus is transferred to the child through the bloodstream. The virus then attaches to the white blood cells in your little one's body and slowly infects them while being circulated throughout the body until symptoms appear.
The symptoms of this initial phase depend on the patient's age, here are some of the symptoms of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever:
Sudden high fever
Severe headache
Decreased appetite,
Severe muscle and joint pain
Skin rash
DHF cases are characterized by four main clinical manifestations, namely high fever, hemorrhagic phenomena, and often hepatomegaly and circulatory failure.
Causes of Dengue Fever
The main cause of dengue fever is the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Aedes mosquitoes will breed in stagnant water and not covered with soil. Aedes can lay 100-200 eggs each time. The development of eggs to become adult Aedes mosquitoes takes 7-10 days.
It is important to control the causes of dengue fever because it acts as a transmission medium for dengue fever which transmits the dengue virus to the human body. If the number of Aedes mosquitoes that cause dengue is reduced, the number of dengue transmission media will be minimal and it is hoped that the number of dengue cases will decrease.
Prevention of Dengue Fever
One of the preventative measures is to maintain a clean environment, hoard unused items, remove standing water, sprinkle abate powder, and carry out dengue vaccination.
It is also recommended to improve the immune system by adopting a healthy lifestyle such as eating healthy food, getting enough rest, controlling stress, and exercising regularly.