Breakbone fever

Breakbone fever
An acute mosquito-borne viral illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course with headache, fever, prostration, severe joint and muscle pain, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy) and rash. The presence (the “dengue triad”) of fever, rash, and headache (and other pains) is particularly characteristic. Better known as dengue, the disease is endemic throughout the tropics and subtropics. It goes by other names including dandy fever. Victims of dengue often have contortions due to the intense joint and muscle pain. Hence, the name “breakbone fever.” Slaves in the West Indies who contracted dengue were said to have “dandy fever” because of their postures and gait.

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break·bone fever .brāk-.bōn- n DENGUE

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dengue.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Breakbone fever — Break bone fe ver (Med.) See {Dengue}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • breakbone fever — ☆ breakbone fever [brāk′bōn΄ ] n. DENGUE …   English World dictionary

  • breakbone fever — Dengue Den gue (d[e^][ng] g[asl]), n. [See Note, below.] (Med.) A specific epidemic disease attended with high fever, cutaneous eruption, and severe pains in the head and limbs, resembling those of rheumatism; called also {breakbone fever}. It… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • breakbone fever — noun an infectious disease of the tropics transmitted by mosquitoes and characterized by rash and aching head and joints • Syn: ↑dengue, ↑dengue fever, ↑dandy fever • Hypernyms: ↑infectious disease …   Useful english dictionary

  • breakbone fever — noun dengue fever …   Wiktionary

  • breakbone fever — n. infectious disease characterized by a high fever and pain in the muscles and joints (occurs in tropic regions such as India, Egypt, and the West Indies), dengue …   English contemporary dictionary

  • breakbone fever — noun Date: 1855 dengue …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • breakbone fever — /brayk bohn /, Pathol. dengue. [1860 65; BREAK + BONE, so called because it makes the bones ache as if breaking at the joints] * * * …   Universalium

  • breakbone fever — see dengue …   The new mediacal dictionary

  • breakbone fever — break′bone fe ver [[t]ˈbreɪkˌboʊn[/t]] n. pat dengue • Etymology: 1860–65 …   From formal English to slang

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