Dengue Fever? It is nothing but an acute febrile disease that is caused by four dengue viruses 1,2,3,4. Dengue fever disease is transmitted to humans by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, and this mosquito, unlike Anopheles malaria-causing mosquito, feeds only during the day time. However, remember dengue fever is not contagious and spreads only when an infected mosquito bites you.
How to Recognize Dengue Fever in Kids?
If your kid has a sudden onset of fever, muscle and joint pains, headache, and rash on their body, they may have dengue fever. Sometimes gastritis with abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting is there.
You must be extra watchful once the critical phase in the dengue fever in kids when the fever will reduce. Because during this time, shock occurs. When the fluid portion of your kid’s blood leaks into their lung spaces and abdomen, it causes shocks, respiratory problems and abdominal distension. However, if the shock is not treated appropriately, then bleeding can occur.
What Are Dengue Fever Symptoms In Kids?
You must remember that the risk period of dengue fever is high in the first 1-2 days after your kid’s fever subsides. The dengue symptoms in kid which means you need to admit them to hospital includes:
- Sleepy or restless
- Vomiting or refusing to accept the oral fluids.
- Abdominal pain
- Bleeding of nose and gum, particularly gastrointestinal bleeding with blood in vomit or stool
- Absence of urine in the last 6 hours.
- Cold sweating skins or cold hands and feet, skin mottling
It’s also true that you can get infected with the dengue virus but does become unwell. But elders and children are more vulnerable to dengue, and you should watch out for them.
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Is Dengue Curable? What Is Its Treatment?
There is no specific treatment for dengue fever; only supportive care with fluid can be used to treat them. If you see dengue fever symptoms in kids, you should understand that no antibiotics are needed to treat this viral infection.
- Bring the temperature of your kid down because a high fever can fit known as febrile convulsion in the child. To bring the fever, you need to gently sponge the child with a cloth soaked in water and give them paracetamol. If you see dengue symptoms in child, then you must avoid giving them certain drugs that include NSAIDs, aspirin that can platelets a problem and causes bleeding due to gastritis.
- Supportive therapy with fluids is the backbone of dengue treatment. And the degree of rising in hemoglobin can help to detect shocks in kids.
- Intake of oral fluid is increased if your child can drink.
- Even when your kid cannot maintain oral intake or is in shock, then the intravenous fluid is necessary.
- Make sure to closely monitor your child during the critical period of dengue fever.
- If your child is bleeding, then blood products are needed.
- The platelet count is the last thing to be recovered which can be increased with a healthy diet.
You must be wondering if dengue fever can be treated at home. Yes, if the dengue fever symptoms in child are not severe, then you treat it at home by taking lots of fluids and eating healthy.
What Tests Detect Dengue Symptoms In Kids?
Your doctor may order hemoglobin, platelets, liver enzymes, coagulation profile and other tests to detect dengue symptoms in child.
You must know that the second attack of dengue is more severe than the first. However, the first attack of dengue on kids can itself be severe.
Can Dengue Be Prevented?
No vaccination can prevent dengue; however, the best is to make sure an infected mosquito does not bite your kid. For dengue symptoms in kids, prevention is better than cure, and there are several ways to protect your kid from this illness.
- You must use screen meshes on the windows and door frames to keep mosquitoes from entering your home. Keep the unscreened doors, and windows close.
- Ensure your child is wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts along with socks and shoes while stepping outside the house.
- One mosquito is all it takes to cause dengue fever, so you must kill all mosquitoes using mosquito killers.
- Limit the outdoor activities of your kid during the dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
- Get rid of standing water sources like basins, mugs, containers or mugs, etc. You must remove the stagnant water or cover it so that mosquitoes can’t breed in.
To treat dengue symptoms in child, you must follow the above mentioned preventive measure. If there are no mosquitoes in your house, then there will be no danger lurking around your child.
If you have questions about your child’s symptoms or treatment, talk with a Meddo doctor today. Doctors are available 24/7 and can provide answers, a treatment plan and prescriptions if needed.
