Signs & Symptoms Of Dengue Fever :- Febrile, Critical, And Recovery Phases

dengue fever is one of the most common viral illnesses in human it is transmitted by the mosquitoes of genus aedes more specifically aedes aegypti and aedes albapictus which are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas dengue affects more than 120 countries around the world and it has been named as one of the top 10 threats to world health by the w.h.o in this video i will discuss about the signs and symptoms of dengue fever if you are looking for a more comprehensive description watch my previous video on dengue fever where i discuss about all the things from pathophysiology to the treatment disease spectrum can range from a mild flu-like illness to a severe life-threatening disease called severe dengue which was previously known as dengue hemorrhagic fever incubation period of the virus is four to ten days and symptoms usually last for two to seven days many patients with dengue are asymptomatic only one in four with dengue infection become symptomatic symptomatic infection commonly presents as a mild to moderate non-specific acute febrile illness about 1 in 20 patients with symptomatic disease develop severe dengue there are three phases of the course of a dengue viral infection febrile phase critical phase and convalescent or recovery phase first let's discuss about the febrile phase high grade fever is the predominant symptom in this period lasting for two to seven days on average in addition patient may complain of severe headaches and retro-orbital pain severe joint pain severe muscle pain bone pain and a macular or maculo popular rash predominantly seen on flexor surfaces individuals may also have nausea and vomiting and mild hemorrhagic manifestations including patekia and purpura bleeding gums epistaxis and hematuria other symptoms in this phase may include sore throat anorexia altered taste sensation and lymphadenopathy by the end of the femoral phase fever starts to drop this is known as differescence and it occurs due to the cessation of boramia it is important to know that some patients may develop certain warning signs of progression into severe dengue in the late febrile phase around the time of differescence some of them include persistent vomiting severe abdominal pain fluid accumulation in body spaces mucosal bleeding difficulty in breathing postural hypotension and hepatomegaly now let's come to the critical phase this phase usually lasts for about 24 to 48 hours most patients clinically improve during this phase however some individuals may progress into severe dengue in these patients fever appears again this pattern of fever is known as saddleback fever this graph shows the pattern of fever during different phases of the infection increased plasma leakage leads to reduced blood volume and ultimately to hypovolemic shock increased plasma leakage also causes pleural effusions and ascites due to the reduced blood volume patient develops hypotension tachycardia tachypnea and altered consciousness some individuals develop severe hemorrhagic manifestations including hematemesis gastrointestinal bleeding and hematuria some uncommon manifestations of severe dengue include hepatitis myocarditis pancreatitis and encephalitis finally during the recovery phase patients hemodynamic status stabilizes and blood cell and platelet counts come back to normal levels