Thai Ministry of Health warns of dengue fever

The Thai Ministry of Health warns of dengue fever, a nasty disease that can even lead to death. The ministry expects 100.000 people to be infected this year.

To date, 20.733 individuals have been diagnosed with the disease and 25 patients have died. Most cases occur in Samut Sakhon, Trat, Nakhon Pathom, Lop Buri and Ratchaburi provinces.

The dengue virus is the causative agent of dengue fever (DF dengue fever ), also called dengue fever, hemorrhagic fever (DHF dengue hemorrhagic fever ) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS Dengue shock syndrome ). DHF and DSS are two forms of severe dengue. The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes that bite during the day.

The incubation period for dengue virus is between 3-14 days (usually 4-7), following a bite from an infected mosquito. The majority of dengue virus infections are without symptoms. Non-severe dengue virus infections are characterized by the following symptoms:

• Sudden onset fever (up to 41°C) with chills;
• headache, especially behind the eyes;
• Muscle and joint pain;
• General malaise;
• Nausea;
• Vomit;
• Cough;
• A sore throat.

Non-severe dengue virus infections recover after a few days to a week. People can get dengue multiple times. A small proportion of infections progress to severe dengue with complications such as dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Without treatment, such complications are life-threatening.

Source: Bangkok Post and RIVM