Dengue Fever

Dengue is a deadly infectious disease and is caused by dengue viruses which are of four types. Dengue viruses are carried by mosquitoes. Dengue fever is also popular as brake bone fever as a person suffering from dengue has also to suffer from sever pain in the joints and the muscles and it appears to him as if the joints are breaking. Dengue fever normally spreads during rainy season or just after the rainy season and is most cases of dengue are found in Tropical and subcontinent areas of the world namely Africa, India , China , Central and South America , Australia and the Southeast Asia .

According to cases reported annually to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) around 100 million people all over the world get affected with dengue every year and out of these 100 to 200 are those who travel abroad. However this cannot be termed as the exact figure as there are various cases which are not reported to the CDC probably because some of the health care providers fail to recognize it.

One can get dengue virus transmitted into his body from the bite of an Aedes mosquito.

Generally when mosquitoes bite infected persons they also become infected. And later when they bite another healthy human being the virus is transmitted into the body of that individual. Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the mosquitoes who are the major carriers of the dengue virus. Dengue virus can be of the following types:

•  DEN-1
•  DEN-2
•  DEN-3
•  DEN-4

A person can be infected by one virus only once in his lifetime but he might get infected by two or more viruses at different times in his lifetime. Dengue can affect people of all ages however children have a mild disease as compared to elders. The Medical science has not been able to develop a permanent cure for Dengue fever but there are various measures and steps which one can take to protect himself from this deadly disease.

Thus, in order to protect themselves from Dengue they should avoid contact with any of the above mentioned mosquitoes. During rainy seasons one should go out properly covered and should also take care that there are no such areas around or in the house where he is living which contain stagnant water as these areas are like harbors for mosquitoes.

Various institutions and scientists are working to find a reliable cure for this disease but at present this disease is considered to be one of the deadliest diseases among those for which there are no cures or treatments available.