Dengue Fever: a word of Caution

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DENGUE FEVER : A WORD OF CAUTION. Forward Pls. ........

this disease is FATAL - even a delay of 8-10 hrs can put the patient in an irrecoverable position - so please take it SERIOUSLY. This is important for those who plan to visit Delhi in the near future...

CAUSE & EFFECT OF THE DISEASE
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The fever is caused by a mosquito bite. The Mosquito acts as a carrier of the Dengue Virus.The virus's main affect is on the PLATELET production. Normally the platelets in our body lasts for about 4 days and the body replenishes them when required. This virus DESTROYS THE BODY's CAPACITY TO PRODUCE NEW PLATELET's (during the period it is effective). The PLATELET count for a normal person varies from 1.5 Lakh - 2.5 Lakh per unit volume. On getting infected the patients PLATELET COUNT STARTS FALLING. A PLATELET count BELOW 1.O Lakh /volume is ALARMING - immediate medical attention is required. A PLATELET count BELOW 50K is FATAL.

Note : A fall in platelet count PREVENTS FORMATION OF CLOTS - and this leads to HAEMORRAGE - which results into both INTERNAL & EXTERNAL BLEEDING - once bleeding starts the situation is almost IRRECOVERABLE.

SYMPTOMS

UNABATED FEVER is the most prominent symptom. Fever may also be accompanied with SHIVERING / BODY ACHE / ACHE IN THE EYES. Howver it must be noted that these symptoms MAY OR MAYNOT MANIFEST TILL VERY LATE. Appearence of RASHES ON THE BODY is a definative symtom - but again IT MAY NOT MANIFEST TILL VERY LATE.

The MOST RELIABLE symtom is A FALL IN THE PLATELET COUNT.

DETECTION
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The most reliable method of detection is to MEASURE THE PLATELET COUNT EVENING & MORNING - I reemphasize that PLATELET COUNT should be measured TWICE A DAY - since if it is Dengue then the PLATELET COUNT WILL FALL WITHIN 7-8 HRS. This fall may start at anytime during the course of infection and therfore keep on measuring the PLATELET count from the onset of the fever till it subsides.

NOTE : Please measure the PLATELET even if fever of any type occurs - do not w ait to verify if it is Dengue since you can never be sure. Also do not BELEIVE ANY DOCTOR IF HE SAYS NOT TO TAKE PLATELET COUNT DAILY - in my friend's case the Doctor at Navin

Upchar delayed sampling of Platelet count which ultimately led to haemo rrage.

PREVENTION
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1. AS A RULE WEAR FULL SLEAVES SHIRT , SHOES and SOCKS. Cover as much part of your body as possible.

2. SPRAY YOUR HOUSES AND WORKPLACE WITH MOSQUITO REPELLANT.

3. REMOVE ANY STAGNANT WATER/ DIRT from your house or workplace.

CURE
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As is known to everybody VIRAL DISEASES HAVE NO CURE - you only TRY TO SUBSTITUE FOR THOSE body functions that have stopped functioning.The ONLY cure is to CONSTANTLY REPLENISH THE BODY WITH PLATELETS. This requires giving BLOOD / PLATELET. Early detection and timely input will prevent HAEMORRAGE. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT HAEMORRAGE MUST BE PREVENTED BECAUSE ONCE HAEMORRAGE STARTS YOUR BODY PARTS WILL GET AFFTECTED AND STOP FUNCTIONING and finally it leads to Death.In my friends case detection was done only after bleeding started - this lead first to failure of his LUNGS, then an infection in the BRAIN, then the kidneys and finally the HEART.

INFRASTRUCTURE (Hospital & facilities)
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From Infrastructure point of view The machine which EXTRACTS PLATELETS FROM BLOOD is the most needed facility. Presently APOLLO, ESCORTS, DHARMSHILA & RED CROSS have these machines ( These are those I know of - there maybe other hospitals as well.). At preset APOLLO is best placed to deal with Dengue patie nts since it has the dedicated machine for internal use and you do not have to run around for the PLATELETS - It may also deal with complication. Other good Hospitals are BATRA, HOLY FAMILY, JASLOK.

All Blood Banks except RED CROSS charge money for a unit of blood. The charges are ranging from Rs 1200/- (at ESCORTS) to Rs 9000/- per unit (Note that you need to donate a unit of blood apart from this charge.). The platelet extraction process takes almost 5-7 hrs (in present rush times). Apart from this you need to arrnge for Donors - this is an arduos task. A pati ent may need anything from 10-50 units. of Blood/platelet.

CAUTION : Presently all Hospitals are overcrowded - APOLLO does not have any free beds and so is the case with BATRA, JASLOK, HOLY FAMILY. ICU beds are even more in short supply and therfore in the eventuality of the case being serous the difficulties are greater. In my friends case we could not get a ICU bed at any of the good hospitals and had to finally admit him at MODI, saket.

I reemphasize that the disease is FATAL and even a delay of 8-10 hrs can lead to loss of life. At this time taking PREVENTIVE MEASURES (covering the body, spraying) and measuring PLATELET COUNTS in case of fever of any type are the most important things to remember.

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