DENGUE FEVER IN BABIES: CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, TREATMENT AND PRECAUTIONS.

Every one of us, somewhere, lives in fear of Dengue. Moreover, if you are a parent, undoubtedly you would be worried thinking about the possibility of your child suffering from dengue fever.

Roughly 100 million cases of dengue are reported every year worldwide. In this article, we are going to discuss dengue symptoms in babies and ways to keep it away from your household.

What is Dengue?

Dengue (annunciated as den-gee) is an aching and strenuous mosquito-borne disease spread by the dengue virus. It leaves you with high fever, pain in your entire body, headaches and rashes. Dengue is extremely common in tropical areas.

The regions most affected by dengue are:

• Southern China
• Southeast Asia
• Taiwan
• The Indian Subcontinent
• Mexico
• Africa
• The Pacific Islands
• Certain parts of the Caribbean
• Central and Southern America

How is Dengue born and how does it spread?

Dengue virus is spread by the biting of an Aedes mosquito. As soon as the virus transmits to human blood, it activates and leads to dengue fever.

• Dengue is not contagious by nature and it does not spread from one human to other via physical contact. It can only be spread by mosquito that has dengue virus.
• In stark contrast to all mosquitoes that bite during dawn and night, dengue causing mosquitoes bite during the daytime. These mosquitoes prefer humid and warm climate to breed.
• The chances of dengue causing mosquitoes growing increases around stagnant water. This is the reason, dengue causing mosquitoes become really active during monsoon season.

Dengue fever symptoms in Babies:

In the past, dengue fever was called, “breakbone fever”, which will give you a faint idea of the type of symptom you should look for. Though it doesn’t mean that the fever is literally breaking bones, it can end up making you feel like it does.

Dengue fever shows up around 4 to 6 days after the virus infects the body. The fever stays with you for around 10 days. Below mentioned are certain symptoms of dengue fever in babies:

• Nausea
• Bleeding
• Splitting headache
• Sudden high fever
• Pain behind eyes
• Mild nose bleeds
• Bleeding gums
• Skin rashes, which shows up couple of days after fever
• Excess body ache, especially close to muscle and joint areas

Certain times, symptoms of dengue in babies are not very prominent and thus dengue fever gets confused with other viral infections. These confusions happen more in case of babies.

In unusual cases, dengue fever presents itself in a more serious form, known as Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) or Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS). It is a condition that can turn fatal. Babies suffering with DHF will show regular dengue symptoms for about 2 to 7 days. Once the fever eases, the other symptoms start getting worse and lead to more grave signs like:

• Intense bleeding
• Gastrointestinal problems like abdominal pain, vomiting and nausea
• Respiratory issues like breathing difficulty

IF DHF not attended on time, the signs may worsen to include:

• Heavy bleeding
• Steep drop in blood pressure
• Organ failure
• Dehydration
• Chances of dying, very less

Symptoms are generally mild in young children and in those suffering from dengue for the first time. Older children, adults and those who have gone through this disease before will go through severe to moderate symptoms.

How to deal with symptoms of dengue?

If your baby has rashes on their body along with fever, you should be on guard. Along with these two signs, if your kid complains about body pain, it is highly advised that you contact your physician.

• As of this moment, there is no specific cure for dengue fever. Your physician would prescribe you medicines that will help you fight the symptoms and fever, which will assist in curing dengue.
• Do not administer anti-inflammatory pill to your child as it would affect your baby’s blood platelets.
• Take your kid to the hospital, so that they can get treatment as soon as possible

How to diagnose dengue in babies?

Most of the doctors suggest getting a blood test done to confirm dengue virus. However many of the specialists can understand the fever by simply looking at the appearance of the baby.

The doctor would inquire about the symptoms and exposure to mosquitoes of your baby and more. A comprehensive blood test would also help in identifying the severity of the infection since the blood platelets will be badly affected.

How to prevent Dengue?

Dengue is a serious infection; the good news is, it can be kept at bay with preventive measures that is currently available. If you be a little careful, you would be able to keep yourself and your baby away from infection.

• The main objective is to keep mosquitoes away from your loved ones. Ensure that there is no accumulated water anywhere in the house
• Use mosquito repellent in the house and make sure that your kids stay away from dirt. Check out products by Mortein – an expert in eliminating mosquitoes from your house.
• Make use of mesh for doors and windows, and shut all the unscreened doors and windows.
• Make your children wear long sleeved shirts, socks, shoes and long pants.
• Make use of mosquito beds during nights
• Air-conditioned rooms keep mosquitoes away.