Evolution of dengue fever in children

Dengue fever is caused by the dengue virus, which is an acute infectious disease that can spread into an epidemic. The intermediate host of the disease is the mosquito, which bites a person infected with dengue virus and then transmits the disease to normal people through the bite. The disease occurs a lot in countries located in tropical climates. In Vietnam, dengue is common in all regions and often breaks out into epidemics in the rainy season, especially in July and August. , 9 and 10.
Dengue fever in children occurs a lot, the reason is explained by the hyperactivity and playfulness, so children often like to play in dark places, this is where mosquitoes gather so it's easy to play. attacked by mosquitoes. Besides, playing and being active makes children's body temperature rise, breathing rate is also higher, sweating is more, so mosquitoes are easily detected and attacked. When being bitten by a mosquito, the child's consciousness is still low and there is little response. The mosquito bite reduces the body's immune system and increases the risk of disease.

The course of dengue fever in children goes through three stages including the febrile phase, the critical phase and the recovery phase. Symptoms in each stage are as follows:
Fever phase: Children with dengue fever at this stage usually start with sudden high fever symptoms, the duration of fever can last from 2 to 7 days. Accompanying symptoms include fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, headache, myalgia, arthralgia, double orbital pain, and subcutaneous petechiae (red dots appearing under the skin and not disappearing). when pressed by hand, usually in the forearm, chest, waist, armpit, mucosal bleeding such as bleeding teeth, nosebleeds, bloody stools). In infants, symptoms of diarrhea, cough, and runny nose may also appear. Usually symptoms at this stage are nonspecific and difficult to distinguish from other viral infections. Critical stage: Onset from the 3rd to 7th day of the disease. At this stage, the patient is still feverish or has no fever, typical symptoms include submucosal bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding, right upper quadrant pain, epigastric pain. In case of severe disease progression, the patient has plasma leakage leading to peritoneal effusion, pleural effusion, lethargy, fatigue, rapid pulse, cold limbs, low blood pressure, and low blood pressure. was brought to a state of shock. Recovery phase: Occurs after 24-48 hours of critical phase. At this stage, the patient's fever is completely gone, and interstitial reabsorption occurs. The patient was able to urinate, started to eat, hemodynamically stabilized and gradually felt better.

Dengue fever has no specific treatment as well as a preventive vaccine, the treatment methods are symptomatic treatment. In case of dengue fever in children being treated as outpatient and at home by a doctor, parents need to know how to take care of the child and do not forget to consult a doctor before doing so. Accordingly, parents need to pay attention to the following issues:

Children with a high fever above 38 degrees, parents need to give the child an antipyretic drug containing paracetamol with a dose of 10-15mg/kg, after 4-6 hours the child still has a fever, then give a repeat dose. Use warm towels to wipe armpits and groin for children to avoid complications of high fever and convulsions.

Diet: Parents should give children liquid, nutritious and easy-to-digest foods such as soup, porridge, milk and meals should be divided into many small meals. Drinking water: Parents need to let children drink more water than usual, which encourages drinking oresol to replace electrolytes, cold boiled water, filtered water, orange juice, lemon juice and juice... Vitamins: Parents need to supplement Supplementing children with vitamins of groups A, B, C to help enhance the body's metabolic activity, strengthen the body's immune system.

Parents need to take their children to medical facilities for follow-up visits according to the doctor's schedule, even in the morning, afternoon or peak days of illness. Especially when the child has the following symptoms:
The child is fussy, irritable, upset, anxious or tired; Children with abdominal pain; Children with bleeding teeth, nosebleeds or vomiting blood, black stools; Children's hands and feet are cold, they do not play, they stop sucking and eating and drinking.

Parents absolutely do not cut the ceremony or shave the wind because it hurts the child and can cause bleeding and infection. Do not self-medicate children without consulting a doctor. Parents absolutely do not allow children to receive intravenous fluids at private clinics or medical facilities that do not have adequate facilities and treatment facilities. Because in many cases, the patient did not give the right fluids, making the disease worse, when it was too late to be transferred to the hospital, it was too late and endangering the child's life. Do not use drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen to reduce fever for children because they can cause heavy bleeding.

The best way to prevent dengue fever in children is to kill mosquitoes, larva, and gnats as follows:
Seal water containers to prevent mosquitoes from flying in and laying eggs; Kill larva and larva by releasing fish into water tanks; Wash and sanitize water containers weekly; Destroy garbage, waste tools in and around the house such as broken bottles, jars, broken jars, coconut shells, tires... Turn over unused water containers and clean up the environment; Measures to prevent mosquito bites are as follows:
Wear long-sleeved clothes; Use a mosquito net at bedtime, even during the day; Kill mosquitoes by using sprays, mosquito repellent creams, electric mosquito nets; Patients with dengue fever need to stay in bed to avoid the risk of mosquito bites and spread to others; Coordinating with local authorities and the health sector in disease prevention and control. At each stage, the course of dengue fever in children will be different. Therefore, parents need to know the symptoms of each stage in order to have direction to take care of their children, and at the same time to intervene medically when necessary.
For more nutritional knowledge and child care for each age, parents should regularly visit the website vimec.com and make an appointment with the leading doctors, pediatric and nutrition experts of the National General Hospital. Vinmec when needing advice on children's health.