[DiseasesLoveMe]

Till my high school, I was quite a healthy guy. I would dance, I would race, I would trek (I would do everything which a young enthusiast could do). But the moment I entered my college, I don't know how and why, I became vulnerable to plethora of diseases! You name one, I would have that! It started with IBS, followed by tonsilitis, then Herpes and then Dengue!!!

Whereas other diseases weren't that shaking/life threatening, Dengue just shook the wits of mine! I was at 'Death Bed'! And worst so, I confronted Dengue TWICE in my Life!

So here's my story of facing DENGUE TWICE in LIFE! And just for your knowledge- I'm just 25.

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DENGUE - The Disease that took me to Death Bed (Twice)

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I will start with the (cute) picture of the tiny creature that did all the havoc in my life:

Aedes aegypti: The vector for transmitting several types of tropical fevers (Dengue being a common one). Image courtesy wikimedia

Now let's see the image of the 'core culprit' - The Virus that resides in this vector and causes the disease to the infected person.

 Dengue virus virions (the cluster of dark dots) in this TEM micrograph. Image courtesy: wikimedia.

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About the Dengue Virus

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Dengue virus is named by the disease itself, DENV: Dengue Fever Virus. It's an RNA virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae (with a broad range of arsenals in it's kitty - epaciviruses known for causing hepatitis. flaviviruses known for dengue hemorrhagic fever, encephalitis. pestiviruses the culprits behind hemorrhagic syndromes, fatal mucosal disease and even abortions)

DENV has 5 serotypes or strains (the major cause behind multiple infections of this disease). Whereas the 5th strain has recently been reported in 2013, the first four are recognized as DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4.

An infection by one strain gives life long immunity to that particular serotype, but not for other serotypes.

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About the Mosquito (Aedes aegypti)

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If you confront a small dark mosquito having banded legs with white lyre shaped markings, stay alert, it's an Aedes aegypti!!

Once this mosquito feeds on your blood, it would look for a container/stagnant waters and would lay it's eggs just above the water-line. It keeps doing so over a period of several days. The eggs are very tolerant to extreme conditions (dessication) and can survive for over 6 months, to hatch upon contact with (rain) water.

Some important points about this mosquito:
1. It is generally low flying and would bite you at your ankles and elbows.
2. It mostly bites During The Day.
3. It generally bites inside houses (than open spaces), and it has a preference for humans!
4. An egg can turn into an adult within 7-8 days (so keep changing/removing stagnant waters in/near your household.
5. Goes without saying that it's the female mosquito that needs blood to nurture and lay eggs.

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How Dengue Occurs?

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Let's answer this question by busting the popular myths:

1) Dengue is contagious?

No Dengue isn't contagious at all! It can't be transmitted from humans to humans directly. A mosquito as a vector (carrier) for the virus is a must!

2) If I'm bitten by an Aedes mosquito, I'll definitely contract Dengue?

No. An Aedes mosquito will cause you Dengue only if it had bitten a Dengue infected person before biting you. Dengue infection follows human-to-mosquito-to-human cycle. 

Also, an "uninfected-Mosquito" must feed on a 'viremic' person (i.e a dengue infected person within whom the virus is multiplying at a very fast rate, a stage called viremia. A person develops viremia within 4 days of getting bitten by a dengue vector).

3) A mosquito can cause Dengue only once?

No. Once a mosquito gets virus in its body, it can cause dengue throughout it's life time (which is 3-4 weeks)! Dengue virus enters a mosquito's system with the blood (meal), where it keeps spreading for a period of around 10 days. This makes the mosquito a potential vector for spreading the disease throughout it's lifetime.

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Symptoms of Dengue Infection

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After getting bitten by an infected mosquito, it might take 3-15 days for the first symptoms to appear. The usual time period for symptoms to appear is upto 8 days. I'm writing the symptoms below in the order they usually appear:

1) Chills and Headache

2)Pain in the back of the eyes and lower back ( accompanied by body (joints and muscles) ache with cracking bone (sound) and feeling as if getting hammered: hence break bone disease)

3) Very high fever, which keeps recurring despite doses of paracetamol | Rashes also appear on the body

4) Nausea and Vomits leading to dehydration

5) Bleeding in nose, gums with easy tendency to get bruises

Different symptoms thus appear in different phases of Dengue infection. Following image summarizes it really nicely:

Image Source: wikimedia

A pleural effusion is a condition in which abnormal amounts of fluids accumulate around the lungs (in pleural cavity).

 

Ascites on the other hand is the accumulation of body fluids in the peritoneal cavity (space between the two membranes that separate the organs in the abdominal cavity from the abdominal wall), causing abdominal swelling.

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More Content to come | Will Update on next visit to this forum (and that will be very soon!)

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