Dengue Fever
F D Masuood

At long last the Government thought of facing the Dengue Fever syndrome when much of the
water has flown down the bridge reporting over 3000 victims of Dengue Fever all over the
country. Conferences under the title of Dengue Fever are being arranged. Electronic and
print media posters, banners and walls writing is being done much less the required timely
needs of awareness in cities, towns and villages. Dengue Fever is an acute viral infection
characterized by fever. It is caused by a bite from mosquitoes carrying Dengue virus. The
primary form of Dengue Fever is characterized by a skin rash and a high fever with severe
pain in the head and muscles. The secondary forms of this disorder are called Dengue
Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF). These usually are caused by a secondary infection with a different
type of Dengue virus, but may also be caused by the same virus that causes Dengue Fever.
Dengue Fever is a disease caused by the virus transmitted to humans by the bite of an
infected mosquito Aedes aegypti which is the most important transmitter or vector of dengue
viruses. Dengue Hemoorhagic Fever is a more severe form of dengue.

Dengue is transmitted to people by the bite of an Aedes mosquito that is infected with a
Dengue virus. The mosquito become infected with dengue virus when it bites a person who has
Dengue or DHF and after about a week can transmit the virus while biting a healthy person.
Dengue cannot be spread directly from person to person.

Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever is characterized by a fever that lasts from 2 to 7 days, with
general signs and symptoms that could occur with many other illnesses (eg, nausea, vomiting,
abdominal pain, and headache).

There is no specific medication for treatment of a Dengue infection. Persons who think they
have Dengue should use pain relievers with acetaminophen and avoid those containing aspirin.
They should also rest, drink plenty of fluids, and consult a physician. As with dengue,
there is no specific medication for DHF.

Outbreaks of dengue occur primarily in areas where Aedes aegypti (sometimes also Aedes
albopictus) mosquitoes live. This includes most tropical urban areas of the world. Dengue
viruses may be introduced into areas by travellers who become infected while visiting other
areas of the tropics where Dengue commonly exists.

Dengue Fever, on the other side is a challenge to all the civic bodies and contonment boards
in the country who have terribly failed to handle the load of everyday garbage. The
insanitary condition pollution of environment is shamelessly ignored by the provincial and
local government. The contonment areas are as poorly kept as other locality of civic bodies.
Until and unless under such organizations headed with heavy load of high echelons do not
spare some good amount of fund saving on the perks and privilege the instantiation will not
disappear. Most important is that all those high-ranking functionaries must inspect their
localities and its civic needs as they bother for their lawns and up keep their
well-furnished offices. There is no vaccine for preventing Dengue. The best preventive
measure for residents living in areas infested with Aedes aegypti is to eliminate the places
where the mosquito lays her eggs, primarily artificial containers that hold water. Items
that collect rainwater or are used to store water like plastic containers, 55-gallon drums,
buckets, or used automobile tires should be covered or properly discarded. Pet and animal
watering containers and vases with fresh flowers should be emptied and scoured at least once
a week. This will eliminate the mosquito eggs and larvae and reduce the number of mosquitoes
present in these areas.

For travellers to areas with Dengue, as well as people living in areas with Dengue, the risk
of being bitten by mosquitoes indoors is reduced by utilization of air conditioning or
windows and doors that are screened. Proper application of mosquito repellents on exposed
skin and clothing decreases the risk of being bitten by mosquitoes.

The emphasis for Dengue prevention is on sustainable, community-based, integrated mosquito
control, with limited reliance on insecticides (chemical larvicides and adulticides).
Preventing epidemic disease requires a coordinated community effort to increase awareness
about Dengue/DHF. Residents are responsible for keeping free of sites where mosquitoes can
be produced. The local government may take intensive spraying in Kachi Abides in the cities,
towns. Ponds, Muhallas, stagnant water sources be covered by sprinkling oil for larviciding.
In general, humans acquire the virus when they come into contact with an infected host, but
in some cases, person-to-person transmission can occur after the initial infection. Human
epidemics occur sporadically, usually because of a combination of climatic, ecological and
social factors.

It is really surprising that with the advancement of medical education least attention is
thought of establishing health education as a full-fleged course in medical studies. Least
allocation of funds and training of full professional health education practitioners is made
in the health service structure in the country. Hospitals, clinics, dispensaries or such
medical cover system is well attended but it is costly, and does not cater to the needs of
everyday demands of high rate of sickness all over the country. It is no denying the facts
that the Government is unable to release the funds as per requirement of establing hospitals
and clinic to cover sick population.The other method of meeting the challenge is to create
strong, reliable functional network of Public Health to impart health education to masses to
avoid sickness bringing down the rush to hospitals or clinics so that insufficient strength
of medical professionals could care the ailing humanity. The public health experts be
equipped with all the tools of health education and be made mobile to undertake
demonstration of healthy practices covering maximum area of their jurisdiction. Public
health wing be created to fund and administer the public health practice in the country.

The Federal and Provincial Government should be alert to take up the epidemics much before
its victims attract the foreign bodies like WHO, UNICEF to save alarm among the
international community.

Email: fmasuod@hotmail.com