Dengue fever in children dangerous?

Dengue What is in children?

Dengue fever is an infectious disease caused by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito that carries the dengue virus. The female mosquitoes, after carrying the disease and biting people, will cause the human body to be bitten to also carry the dengue virus.

Dengue fever in children very dangerous. (Illustration)

About 4-6 days after being bitten by a mosquito, the patient begins to get sick and has a continuous high fever, red blood spots appear under the skin, so it is called dengue fever.

This disease is very contagious and outbreaks into epidemics by mosquitoes that transmit the disease. Mosquitoes that bite people infected with dengue virus then bite a healthy person and transmit the disease.

Pictures of children with dengue fever

In the early stages of dengue fever, parents often mistakenly think that the baby has typhus or dermatitis because the bleeding spots are not really clear. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the manifestations of the disease to diagnose whether the baby has dengue fever or not.

Some pictures of dengue fever in children. (Illustration)

Dengue fever in children dangerous?

Dengue Children are assessed to be more severe than adults because they are more likely to fall into shock and re-shock than adults.

As for adults, when they feel tired and have strange symptoms, they will go to the hospital for a checkup right away, so they rarely have serious cases. If adults have dengue fever, the most common complication is thrombocytopenia (bleeding), while in children, the most common complication is shock. Due to shock, the child is at risk of organ failure leading to death.

In addition, many parents often self-treat their children at home, so when a child has dengue fever, the wrong treatment also puts the child at risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

Symptoms of dengue fever in children

Here are the symptoms of dengue fever in children, as well as the most common way to detect dengue at home:

– Children often have a sudden onset of illness with a sudden high fever, before that, the child will be completely healthy, the time of fever is about 2-7 days, accompanied by manifestations such as flushed face, swollen skin, pain. muscle pain, joint pain, headache.

– In some cases, children are accompanied by conjunctivitis, sore throat, nausea and vomiting, and fatigue. At this point, the symptoms of the disease are usually nonspecific and indistinguishable from other viral infections.

Symptoms of dengue fever are usually quite obvious. (Illustration)

– Next, the baby will show signs like petechiae (also known as petechiae – red dots that don’t go away when pressed) often on the legs, forearms, chest, armpits and waist. For girls going through puberty, there may be vaginal bleeding.

These hemorrhagic symptoms in these children are less likely to occur in the early days. The liver may become enlarged after a few days. If the blood count test at this time will show leukopenia, indicating dengue fever.

How long does dengue fever in children last?

The incubation period of dengue fever in children lasts from 4-7 days, possibly 14 days after being bitten by a mosquito carrying the dengue virus. From the 3rd to 7th day of illness, the child’s fever will be completely reduced or completely gone, and after this period 48-72 hours, the child will have signs of gradual recovery such as alertness, appetite, and frequent urination. ..

However, parents also need to be very careful, some children may show signs of worsening, these cases need to be hospitalized immediately for more active treatment.

Stages of dengue fever in children

The onset of dengue is usually quite sudden and rapid, with three stages: the febrile phase, the critical phase, and the convalescent phase.

Fever phase: The child has a high fever continuously, is irritable, and cries. Older children will feel anorexia, headache, nausea, congested skin, bleeding gums or nosebleeds, muscle and joint pain, and pain in the 2 eye sockets. Blood test results at this time are often unclear.

Danger period: Usually from 3-7 days after the illness, the fever may have subsided, the child has plasma leakage. If the child is taken to the doctor, he or she may notice that the child has effusion in the pleura, peritoneum, abnormally enlarged liver, edematous eyelids.

Stages of dengue fever in children. (Illustration)

At this stage, if blood tests will show that the platelet count drops sharply to less than 100,000/mmm3, in severe cases, the baby may have a clotting disorder and fall into a critical state.

Recovery phase: After about 2-3 days, the child’s fever is gone, his condition is much improved, he feels hungry, his blood pressure is stable and he urinates more, blood tests show a rapid increase in the number of white blood cells.

Caring for children with dengue fever

– Make the child completely rest, have someone to take care of him.

– Always monitor the child’s temperature, if the child has a high fever, give the child paracetamol infusion or tablet form. Dosage and dosage will depend on the age and weight of the baby.

As soon as the child has no fever and is on the 3rd day of illness onset, the family needs to be more careful because this is the dangerous stage, the child’s body can be easily shocked and become more severe.

– Increase the amount of water you drink more than usual to help rehydrate if the body has a high fever. Children need to drink oresol electrolyte water along with fruit juices rich in vitamin C, filtered water to help increase the strength of blood vessels and reduce bleeding.

– Make children eat many meals a day. Grinding or grinding foods in a soft, liquid, cool form makes them easy for children to swallow and digest.

– Do not arbitrarily perform folk antipyretic measures such as cupping, shaving or giving intravenous fluids to children at home or at an unreputable medical facility.

Caring for and monitoring children with dengue fever is very important. (Illustration)

Measures to treat dengue fever in children

Because dengue is a viral disease, there is currently no specific treatment for dengue fever in children. The main treatment is still to reduce the symptoms of the disease. For young children with dengue fever, if they are hospitalized, monitored and treated promptly, the danger of the disease can be reduced to the lowest level. Only when a child is dehydrated for a long time due to a high fever does the illness get worse and cause death.

Parents absolutely do not arbitrarily give drugs to children without the prescription of a doctor. Antipyretic and pain relievers that contain Aspirin and Ibuprofen can make bleeding worse, especially gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with dengue fever.

Currently, in some developed countries, vaccination against dengue fever has begun. However, this vaccine is not yet widely available. Therefore, families should still prevent disease rather than cure it.

How to prevent dengue fever in children

Mosquitoes are one of the vectors of disease. Therefore, in order to prevent dengue fever in children, parents need to put the baby to sleep under a mosquito net (net), avoid around the house with stagnant water, and release fish in a water bowl to kill larvae. In addition, parents should actively contact local health authorities to spray insecticides if necessary.

Mothers need to be aware that dengue fever in children is one of the most common diseases, especially when there is an outbreak or epidemic occurs in the place where they live. Infectious Diseases. In addition, it is necessary to regularly update the infection situation as well as observe the condition of the children daily to detect early signs and symptoms.