How are the symptoms of dengue fever similar and different from typhus?

The article was professionally consulted by Doctor Head of Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine, Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital

In a country with a tropical climate like ours, dengue fever can be encountered all year round, but especially increases in the rainy season months. Because dengue fever symptoms are almost similar to other typhus diseases, so it is easy to confuse and make mistakes in monitoring and treatment.

With the characteristics of fever with muscle aches, headache, rash... can be recognized almost as if dengue fever is very similar to other forms of viral fever or benign typhus. To distinguish the disease, it is necessary to monitor the symptoms and special signs.
Typhus: High fever but intermittent fever, accompanied by symptoms of upper respiratory infection such as cough, runny nose, sore throat... The rash in typhus will disappear quickly after skin tightening. If the rash persists or goes away very slowly, it could be dengue fever.
Viral fever has similar symptoms, with high fever with upper respiratory tract infection, body aches, with or without rash.
The best way to distinguish these types of fever is to go to a medical facility for a blood test. The blood count in dengue fever will show a decrease in white blood cells and platelets, and a positive antigen test. The rest of the fevers are almost normal blood count, dengue antigen is negative.
The rash in typhus will disappear quickly after skin tightening. If the rash persists or goes away very slowly, it could be dengue fever

Currently, there is no specific treatment for dengue fever. Treatment is mainly aimed at symptoms and monitoring for signs that require hospitalization.
With mild dengue fever can be treated as an outpatient, but it is necessary to absolutely follow the doctor's instructions, use antipyretic drugs and drink plenty of water along with monitoring for signs of aggravation of the disease such as: vomiting. vomiting a lot, gastrointestinal bleeding, nosebleeds or bleeding gums that are difficult to control, severe abdominal pain ... when you have the above signs, you need to go to a medical facility immediately.
More severe conditions need to be hospitalized for monitoring.

After having dengue fever, it is still possible to get it again, although after having dengue fever, the body will create antibodies. But there are 4 types of virus, so after you get it, you can still get it again. Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent dengue, the best way to prevent the disease is to avoid mosquito bites through sleeping on a mosquito net, killing mosquitoes, and not giving mosquitoes a chance to reproduce.

The best way to prevent disease is to avoid mosquito bites through sleeping on a mosquito net, killing mosquitoes, not allowing mosquitoes to have a chance to multiply:
Transmission: Patients should not arbitrarily transmit the disease at home because it can lead to complications such as pulmonary edema, heart failure due to fluid overload. Infusion is carried out only in medical facilities and is closely monitored. Subjects susceptible to dengue fever: Not only children, but also adults are also at risk of dengue fever when bitten by mosquitoes. Therefore, should not be subjective with high fever with symptoms of headache, body aches and pains. In summary, dengue fever is a disease transmitted by mosquitoes. It is necessary to carefully distinguish dengue fever from other viral fevers and benign typhus in order to have an appropriate monitoring attitude. The best way to prevent the disease is to not let mosquitoes have the opportunity to transmit the disease, through the destruction of larvae, insecticides, and bed nets.

Reference sources: Department of Preventive Medicine - Ministry of Health; Institute of Malaria - Parasitology - Entomology - City. Ho Chi Minh