Dengue alert: Doctor shares dos and don’ts

With rain Gods unleashing their power, can mosquito-borne diseases be far behind? The rains in some states have been incessant and that means the danger of mosquito bites is that much higher and with it cases of dengue.

Media reports have put the count of dengue cases at 243 as of July 28, 2023. What is troubling is that this count is the highest as compared to the last six years in Delhi. In 2022, the number of dengue cases were 169 and in 2021, the figure stood at 52.

Maharashtra is no better. The state has seen a 50 per cent rise in dengue cases as compared to last year. Till May, the state had reported 1,237 dengue cases as against 807 reported in 2022 for the same period.

Given the rising number of cases, parents are bound to be a bit apprehensive. More so, since children are going to school and getting exposed to mosquito bites are higher as kids spend some time out in the fields.

What is dengue? How does it spread?

According to Dr Abhijit V Mhapankar, Consultant Paediatrician and Neonatologist & visiting Consultant at Terna Speciality Hospital, Nerul, and Apollo Hospital, Navi Mumbai the best way to protect your child from dengue is prevention.

“Dengue is a viral disease that is primarily transmitted to humans through the bites of infected female mosquitoes belonging to the Aedes species, mainly Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, Aedes albopictus. When an Aedes mosquito bites a person infected with the dengue virus, it becomes infected. The virus needs time to replicate within the mosquito before it can be transmitted to another host. This period is called the incubation period, typically lasting four to 10 days,” Dr Mhapankar explained, whose daughter recently passed out of Apeejay School, Nerul.

He pointed out that once a person is infected, the virus circulates in their blood. If another Aedes mosquito bites this infected person during the viremic (virus in the blood) period, it can pick up the virus.

“The dengue virus replicates in the mosquito’s gut and eventually spreads to its salivary glands, where it can be transmitted to another human when the mosquito feeds again,” Dr Mhapankar said.

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Prevention is the best policy. I would like to reiterate that they should be wearing long full sleeve shirts and full pants. The older children can use mosquito repellent. Parents should ensure that mosquitoes don’t enter the house by putting nets

–Dr Abhijit V Mhapankar, Consultant Paediatrician and Neonatologist & visiting Consultant at Terna Speciality Hospital, Nerul, and Apollo Hospital, Navi Mumbai

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What can parents do?

At present, the best way to deal with the situation is prevention. This is because we don’t have a vaccine at hand for dengue, he said. “I would like to reiterate that they should be wearing long full sleeve shirts and full pants. The older children can use mosquito repellent. Parents should ensure that mosquitoes don’t enter the house by putting nets in the windows. The main door should preferably have a net as well,” Dr Mhapankar stressed.

Dos

1.       When they go to the grounds also they can apply mosquito repellents

2.       The building society and school authorities should ensure that there is no accumulation of water

3.       If the child is at home, use an electronic mosquito repellent.

4.       Mosquito patches to be only used by children who are above the age of 10.

5.       Prevent stagnation of water around the surroundings. If the family uses an air cooler, it must be cleaned every few days to prevent mosquitoes from breeding. A common place where water stagnates is plants. Drain the water properly.

Don’ts

1.       Do self-medication for the child.

2.       Go for a test without a doctor’s consultation.

Signs and symptoms

Dr Mhapankar said that most parents face a common dilemma – when to visit the doctor. “Most parents would have heard the statement: You could have waited for a day or so. But for parents, their child’s health takes precedence over everything else. More so, post-Covid. To make it easy for parents to distinguish between a viral fever and dengue, here are some tips,” he said.

Viral fever normally lasts for three to five days. When the fever is down, the child will feel fine and they will play around and be happy.

“Only when they have fever they are bogged down. In viral fever, there is focus infection like cough, cold or diarrhoea. In dengue, there is no such focus infection and the child’s body will look like it is flushed (red hue) all over the body,” Dr Mhapankar said and added that it is necessary to keep the child hydrated properly by giving fluids and water.

When to visit the doctor?

It is imperative that the parent takes the child to a doctor instead of self-medicating the child. “At the most the child can be given paracetamol. Self-medication by the parent for the child can prove to be dangerous if the child has dengue. Only a doctor will be able to diagnose what ails the child and whether antigen and antibody tests are needed and when,” Dr Mhapankar said. Antigen will be positive in the first two-three days. Then the antibody starts coming.

“After 48 hours the antigen goes down. So the doctor will decide when these tests have to be done. Also, it is important to maintain a temperature chart for the child. Once the parent keeps the temperature chart, the doctor can time the test correctly,” Dr Mhapankar said in conclusion.