Dengue

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 of dengue. Dengue is endemic throughout the tropics and subtropics. It goes by other names including breakbone or 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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A disease of tropical and subtropical regions that occurs epidemically, is caused by d. virus, a member of the family Flaviviridae. There are 4 antigenic types, and they are transmitted by a mosquito of the genus Aedes (usually A. aegypti, but frequently A. albopictus). Four grades of severity are recognized: grade I, fever and constitutional symptoms; grade II, grade I plus spontaneous bleeding (of skin, gums, or gastrointestinal tract); grade III, grade II plus agitation and circulatory failure; grade IV, profound shock. SYN: Aden fever, bouquet fever, breakbone fever, dandy fever, date fever, d. fever, d. hemorrhagic fever, exanthesis arthrosia, polka fever, scarlatina rheumatica, solar fever (1). [Sp. corruption of “dandy” fever]

- hemorrhagic d. a more severe form of d. characterized by hemorrhagic skin lesions, which has erupted in a number of epidemic outbreaks in the Pacific basin.

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den·gue 'deŋ-gē, -.gā n an acute infectious disease that is characterized by headache, severe joint pain, and a rash and that is caused by a single-stranded RNA virus of the genus Flavivirus (species Dengue virus) transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes called also breakbone fever, dandy fever, dengue fever

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n.

a disease caused by arboviruses and transmitted to humans principally by the mosquito Aëdes. Symptoms, which last for a few days, include severe pains in the joints and muscles, headache, sore throat, fever, running of the eyes, and an irritating rash. These symptoms recur in a usually milder form after an interval of two or three days. Death rarely occurs, but the patient is left debilitated and requires considerable convalescence. A more severe form, dengue haemorrhagic fever, characterized by a breakdown of the blood-clotting mechanism with internal bleeding, can affect children. Dengue occurs throughout the tropics and subtropics. Patients are given aspirin and codeine to relieve the pain and calamine lotion is helpful in easing the irritating rash.

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den·gue (dengґge) (Sp. dānґga) [Swahili ki-dinga] an acute, self-limited disease, typically lasting 5 to 7 days, characterized by fever, prostration, severe muscle pains, headache, rash, lymphadenopathy, and leukopenia, caused by four antigenically related but distinct types of the dengue virus. It occurs epidemically and sporadically in warm to hot parts of the world, including West and Central Africa, parts of India, Southeast and East Asia, Indonesia, northeastern Australia, Polynesia, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. Called also breakbone, dandy, or dengue fever.