Common complications of dengue fever

Dengue fever is a common disease that easily breaks out in the rainy season. Symptoms of the disease are easily mistaken for a common viral fever, because of this, it makes the patient subjective and neglectful. However, if the disease is not treated early, there is a high risk of facing extremely serious dengue complications.

Dengue fever is a dangerous infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes. The disease often breaks out in the rainy season in areas with poor sanitation and standing water in many ponds. This is a favorable environment for mosquitoes to breed and feed on human blood, causing dengue virus infection.
When infected with dengue fever, patients who are subjective or neglectful in treatment are at high risk of facing extremely serious dengue hemorrhagic fever complications.

Dengue fever is divided into 3 types: mild hemorrhagic fever, hemorrhagic fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (dengue shock syndrome). In each type, the symptoms of the disease also increase gradually with each level.
2.1 Mild Dengue Fever usually begins with a fever and will last for 4 - 7 days after being transmitted by mosquitoes. This is the form with typical symptoms and no complications. In addition, there are symptoms such as:
High fever, up to 40.5 degrees Celsius; Severe headache in the forehead area, pain in the eyes behind the eyeballs; Joint and muscle pain; Nausea and vomiting; Rash. The dengue rash may appear on the body 3 to 4 days after the onset of the fever, then resolves in 1 to 2 days and may appear again the following day.
2.2 Hemorrhagic Dengue Symptoms of this type of dengue include all symptoms of mild dengue with blood vessel and lymphatic damage, nosebleeds, bleeding in the gums or under the skin, causing bruising. This form of disease, if not promptly treated, will lead to complications of dengue fever, which can lead to death.
2.3 Dengue hemorrhagic fever (dengue shock syndrome) This is the most severe type of dengue fever, including all manifestations of mild dengue plus bleeding symptoms, accompanied by plasma escaping blood vessels, massive bleeding inside and outside the body, shock (low blood pressure).
This type usually occurs during a later infection, when the patient already has active immunity (due to previous illness) or passive (passed on by the mother) to a viral antigen. In particular, the disease manifests itself as severe suddenly after 2 to 5 days (the antipyretic phase). This form of the disease usually occurs in children (sometimes in adults). This form of the disease can be fatal, especially in children and adolescents.

Fever stage : Symptoms are often difficult to distinguish from common viral fevers. The patient has a high fever of 39-40 degrees Celsius, the fever lasts 2-7 days and it is difficult to reduce the fever. Danger phase : From the 3rd to 7th day since fever, this stage is very dangerous, severe symptoms of dengue fever begin to be noticed such as: Bleeding under the skin on the front two shins, inner side of arms, abdomen, thighs; Epistaxis; bleeding tooth ; More serious complications will appear: internal bleeding, pleural or peritoneal effusion, gastrointestinal bleeding or more seriously, cerebral hemorrhage. Recovery phase: The patient's fever is gone and his physical condition begins to get better, he has an appetite, hemodynamic stability begins to stabilize and the patient urinates a lot, the platelet tests gradually increase and return to normal. normal.

Dengue fever is an unpredictable disease with no specific treatment and no vaccine. Many patients come to medical facilities with high fever, difficulty breathing, delirium, and even struggling... These patients, if not treated promptly, can lead to dangerous conditions. The following dangers:
4.1 Heart failure, kidney failure Due to the continuous bleeding in the body, causing circulatory system disturbances, it leads to heart failure. When the heart is not able to pump blood, plasma fluid appears continuously, causing the pericardium to overflow, causing stasis. This causes the heart and circulatory system to be severely affected, causing heart failure and bleeding.
The kidneys also have to work at full capacity to excrete plasma in the urine, which can lead to acute kidney failure.
4.2 Shock due to blood loss Due to dengue virus increasing capillary permeability, plasma drainage and blood concentration to a certain threshold will cause shock causing blood to be ejected. Causes symptoms such as nosebleeds, bleeding gums... Without timely treatment, the patient will experience internal bleeding with the main symptoms: vomiting blood, urinating bleeding, hemoptysis, abnormal vaginal bleeding, menorrhagia...
4.3 Brain hemorrhage Complications for patients with severe dengue are low platelets. This is a very dangerous situation. Because if the platelets are reduced, the patient is not transfused in time, it can lead to brain hemorrhage, easy to die.
4.4 Pleural effusion The blood in the body that is spilled will enter the respiratory tract, causing respiratory tract inflammation, pleural effusion, pneumonia or acute pulmonary edema. Without first aid, the patient's life could be in danger.
4.5 Coma During hemorrhage, plasma fluid can pool in the meninges through the vessel walls causing cerebral edema and neurological syndromes leading to coma. This is the most severe complication of dengue fever. In addition, there are some cases of coma secondary to shock, after internal bleeding, after acute heart failure, ... in this case, secondary acute brain syndrome, which is considered a complication.
4.6 Preterm birth, miscarriage occurs in pregnant women Pregnant women with dengue fever will have a high risk of facing many dangerous complications such as: causing miscarriage or premature delivery, stillbirth. Pregnant women are most likely to have preeclampsia, damage to liver and kidney function, and prolonged bleeding during labor. The doctor's advice is that if you experience sudden symptoms of high fever that does not go down in 1-2 days, accompanied by signs of red spots on the skin, you should take the patient to a medical facility immediately for treatment. Practice testing and receive the most effective treatment, avoiding the progression of the disease, causing dangerous complications later.