Dengue here again!

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City has recorded 831 dengue cases for the first nine months of this year. The number is far higher compared to that of the same period last year. Certain city barangays consistently register high numbers of dengue cases through the years.

Everyone is at risk. Dengue does not discriminate between males and females or between the young and the old, or the rich and the poor – or this or that barangay. While there have been many infants and young children that fell to the ailment, old people – like a 90-year old Philippine senator – have also been hit.

Within a short time after it began to rain frequently, there comes an added problem to the expectable flooding. And this dreaded addition has already claimed many lives these past years, mostly among young children. In fact, it is no longer unusual to hear of a neighbor or her child being hospitalized for dengue fever.

Dengue fever is a painful, debilitating mosquito-borne disease caused by any one of four closely related dengue viruses. These viruses are related to the viruses that cause West Nile infection and yellow fever.

Each year, millions of cases of dengue fever occur worldwide. Most of these are in tropical areas of the world, with the greatest risk occurring in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia,Southern China,Taiwan, the Pacific Islands, the Caribbean (except Cuba and the Cayman Islands), Mexico, Africa, Central and South America (except Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina). Of course, dengue cases are also common in the Philippines.

The dengue virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes Egypti mosquito. The mosquito becomes infected when it bites a person with dengue virus in his blood. The infection is not spread directly from person to person.

Usually beginning four to six days after infection and last for up to 10 days, dengue symptoms may include sudden high fever, severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, severe joint and muscle pains, nausea, vomiting, skin rash (which appears three to four days after the onset of fever), and mild bleeding (such a nose bleed, bleeding gums, or easy bruising).

Sometimes symptoms are mild and can be mistaken for those of the other viral infections. Younger children and people who have never had the infection before tend to have milder cases than older children and adults. However, serious problems can develop. These include dengue hemorrhagic fever, a rare complication characterized by high fever, damage to lymph and blood vessels, bleeding from the nose and gums, enlargement of the liver, and failure of the circulatory system. The symptoms may progress to massive bleeding, shock, and death – called dengue shock syndrome.

People with weakened immune systems as well as those with a second or subsequent dengue infection are believed to be at greater risk for developing dengue hemorrhagic fever.

Doctors can diagnose dengue infection with a blood test to check for the virus or antibodies to it. People getting sick after traveling to a known dengue infested area should immediately consult the doctor. The doctor then conducts an evaluation of the symptoms for the possibility that these are caused by a dengue infection.

There is no specific medicine to treat dengue infection. Persons having dengue fever should use pain relievers with acetaminophen and avoid medicines with aspirin, which could worsen bleeding. Rest is important, drinking plenty of fluids, and, most important, seeing the doctor.

If the fever returns and feels worse in the first 24 hours after the fever has come down, it is necessary to get the patient to a hospital immediately to be checked for complications.

Cebu City Health Department Chief Daisy Villa said that of the recorded dengue cases in the city so far this year, at least seven deaths have been recorded, including the recent cases in Barangay Suba which claimed the lives of two sisters. There might actually be more, as dengue has very recently also claimed the life of a five-year-old girl in barangay Apas.