Dengue fever patients should eat, abstain from to quickly recover health? -Life health

While the COVID-19 epidemic is still complicated, dengue fever is at risk of outbreaks in the southern provinces. In addition to proactive disease prevention, early detection and treatment and nutritional care are essential for dengue patients.

1. What to do when there are signs of dengue fever?

Dengue fever is an acute infectious disease that occurs all year round but usually increases in the rainy season. Dengue disease is caused by the dengue virus and is transmitted by the mosquito (Aedeses aegypti) transmitting the virus from an infected person to a healthy person.

According to BSCK II Nguyen Thuy Duong, Ha Dong General Hospital, dengue It usually goes through three stages:

Fever phase: Usually in the first 3-4 days, the patient has a sudden high fever of 39-40 degrees Celsius, fatigue, headache, pain in the eye sockets, pain in the joints, body aches, possibly inflammation of the pharyngitis. upper respiratory tract.

Patients often have anorexia, nausea and vomiting. Congestive skin, may manifest as petechiae under the skin.

At this time, the symptoms of the disease are often non-specific, difficult to distinguish from other viral infections such as influenza, fever due to COVID-19 …

Critical phase: (also called hemorrhagic phase): Usually on the 3rd – 7th day of the disease. Manifestations of fever may decrease or remain feverish, signs of bleeding from mild to severe, there are various bleeding manifestations (due to thrombocytopenia in the blood), a stage where many complications occur.

Recovery phase: The patient has no fever for more than 48 hours, less fatigue, better general condition, more appetite and urination. Platelet tests begin to rise.

In the context of the spreading COVID-19 epidemic, the symptoms of dengue fever need to be very careful because there are some initial symptoms that are similar to those of COVID-19 infection, which can cause confusion.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Tran Thanh Duong

Medical experts recommend that, when there are signs of suspicion of dengue fever, patients should go to a medical facility for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment instructions. Do not arbitrarily buy pain relievers and fever reducers to use, of which two are aspirin and ibuprofen. These two drugs will make bleeding in the patient worse, which can cause severe, life-threatening stomach bleeding.

During care, it is necessary to monitor the patient’s health status, especially body temperature. When you have a fever, you need to wear loose clothes, don’t cover yourself with a blanket, wipe with warm water to help reduce the fever. If the fever is over 38.5 degrees Celsius, use paracetamol to reduce fever according to the correct weight dose. Drink plenty of water, rehydrate with osezol solution as directed.

Nutrition experts also noted that there is currently no specific treatment for dengue fever, so nutrition plays a very important role in improving resistance, reducing the risk of serious illness, and helping people disease recover faster.

Dengue fever patients often have high fever and fatigue.

2. Diet for dengue patients

2.1 What should people with dengue fever eat and drink when they have a fever?

– When dengue fever, patients often have high fever accompanied by headache, joint pain … so very tired, loss of appetite. High fever increases the risk of dehydration, so adequate rehydration is necessary.

– Patients should drink filtered water, broth, fresh coconut water, fruit juice (such as orange, grapefruit, lemon). Coconut water contains many good minerals that help replenish electrolytes in the body in case of dehydration due to high fever.

– Orange, lemon, grapefruit juices also contain many vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C, which strengthens the resistance, helps to stabilize the vessel wall, which is very good for dengue patients.

Fruit juice rich in vitamin C is good for dengue patients.

Dengue fever patients need high protein intake to recover quickly. Therefore, in the patient’s diet, it is necessary to increase protein-rich foods such as eggs, meat, fish, milk … It is necessary to add foods rich in vitamin A, rich in zinc (beef, chicken …) to increase resistance. for body.

However, when sick and feverish, the patient often has difficulty eating and does not feel good. Therefore, dishes should be cooked in liquid and soft form such as porridge and soup to make it easier for sick people to eat and absorb.

– Should eat less, divided into many meals a day. Snacks can be added with milk to supplement nutrition.

– For infants who are still breastfed, continue to breastfeed as usual. Children in the age of weaning, parents should cook a variety of dishes, giving priority to foods rich in vitamins D, A, zinc, iron… In addition to the main meal, children should drink more milk, orange juice or smoothies to supplement. vitamins and minerals.

Children with dengue fever will have fever, body aches, discomfort… so they need to pay attention to their nutrition. Children need to eat liquid foods, divided into several meals. Diet rich in nutrients, easy to digest such as: Porridge, soup, milk…

BS. Tran Cao Dung

2.2. Dengue fever patients need to abstain from anything?

Nutritionists recommend that dengue patients should eat a balanced diet with adequate nutrition, especially foods that provide many vitamins and minerals.

Patients do not need to absolutely abstain from any food, but should also pay attention to limit eating foods that are high in fat, causing indigestion and bloating. Do not eat spicy food, and do not drink alcohol and stimulants.

Avoid foods and drinks with dark red color such as blood (pork, cow, chicken…), beetroot… These foods are easy to confuse with gastrointestinal bleeding.

Foods with a dark red color like beets should be avoided.

3. Some good foods for dengue patients with low platelets

One of the common complications of dengue fever is thrombocytopenia. The platelet count in dengue is reduced because the blood cells are affected by the virus that causes platelet damage. Antibodies produced during this phase destroy a large number of platelets during dengue fever.

To help the body produce more platelets, dengue patients should increase foods rich in vitamins C, A, and K; folate, iron…

Vitamin C is citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits; kiwi, strawberry, broccoli, spinach…

Vitamin A is found in foods of animal origin such as eggs, milk, fish, meat, pork liver, ovals, shrimp… Plant foods such as dark green vegetables such as spinach, water spinach, amaranth, squash; yellow fruits and vegetables such as gac, carrots, pumpkin, papaya, mango… contain a lot of provitamin A (beta-carotene). When entering the body, beta-carotene will be converted into vitamin A.

Vitamin K is found in some natural foods such as: spinach, asparagus, broccoli, kale; beans, soybeans…

Folate is found in eggs, asparagus, whole grains, oranges, spinach, and kale.

Iron is found in foods such as: meat, heart, liver, fish, egg yolks, legumes, cereals, dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli, pumpkin, dried fruits… Iron of animal origin is better absorbed than iron of plant origin.

Foods rich in vitamin C are good for dengue patients with low platelets.