This monsoon season, you will hear almost everyone around you falling sick, with fever, sore throat, and vomiting. The most common response would be a lackadaisical one: that it is just a characteristic seasonal ailment. But this distinction is not for you to surmise otherwise; self-treatment can have adverse outcomes.
Further, the doctor provided the clinical picture of the laboratory findings. It is the last step to rule out dengue as a viral infection, and dengue appears very differently in blood tests. “Dengue often causes a reduction in platelet count and white blood cell count, but platelet numbers alone should never be used to judge disease severity. Equal importance is given to haematocrit levels, as a rising haematocrit may indicate plasma leakage, one of the hallmark complications of severe dengue. Viral fevers rarely produce this combination of laboratory findings. As per the expert, dengue’s recovery is often measured against fever, which is incorrect. He clarified and explained why it can be dangerous: “Many think dengue improves once fever subsides, but the timeframe between the third and the seventh day of the disease, when temperatures begin to stabilize, is often the most serious. At the time, plasma leakage could occur, resulting in an increased possibility of shock, internal bleeding, and organ malfunction. Dengue fever is accompanied by several other ‘warning signs,’ which the doctor advised never to ignore. He cautioned about these signs, which may progressively get worse and require hospital-based management: Just to put into perspective, so you know how far apart the treatments are, the doctor pointed out that dengue fever needs a combination of careful administration of fluids and continuous monitoring of the condition, and patients are asked to stay away from medications like ibuprofen and aspirin since they can increase the risk of bleeding. But regular viral fevers go down with the expert-recommended paracetamol dosage. Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
Providing the key distinction, the doctor helped explain the root cause: “Dengue is due to the dengue virus, which is transmitted through the bite of an Aedes mosquito. On the other hand, viral fever refers to the condition characterized by fever due to different types of viruses.
