When a febrile condition occurs, the patient should consult a physician.

August 26th is the
International Dengue Day
which seeks to raise awareness about a virus that, if not treated in time, can cause death. In this regard, we interviewed Dr. David de Luna, an infectologist at the Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago (Homs).

High fever, headache and vomiting are symptoms of various health conditions. How to differentiate dengue fever from malaria and the like?Dominican Republic is a tropical country where there are several viral, parasitic and bacterial germs that are particular to our climate and evidently many of them present fever. One of the factors we use to differentiate one from the other is the pattern of fevers.

For example, in the case of
dengue
These are usually fevers that begin approximately five days after the virus has been inoculated in the affected person and are very high fevers, accompanied by sweating and many headaches. This fever is often referred to as a bone-breaking fever.

In the case of other infections such as malaria, fevers have a periodic pattern in which the patient presents fever every 48 or 72 hours, depending on the type of the parasite variety that affects it. It is usually accompanied by different symptoms such as jaundice, which is the discoloration change of the skin to a yellowish tone and general malaise, not as acute as the
dengue
.

In view of the symptoms, which health specialist should I go to in order to rule out or validate the virus?

When a febrile condition occurs, the patient has several options: He can attend his family doctor and internist. Also to whoever is your primary care physician. For example, in diabetic patients, if your primary care physician is an endocrinologist you can assist him/her.

Basically, the workup of a febrile patient is clinical, where the physician makes a disquisition of the symptoms of fever and what accompanies it in order to reach a final diagnosis based on the patient’s interrogation and the analyses he/she receives.

Is there a reason why one person has severe symptoms and others do not?

There are several reasons why there may be a difference in presentation patterns from one person to another. In the case of the
dengue
the most well known is when a person has had a second infectious process due to the same
dengue
.

Recall that dengue
dengue
has four strains of the virus. A patient after having been affected by one of them does not repeat and when having a second infection by a different variety, the patient may have a more severe presentation than the previous one. For this reason, the classification of
dengue
with warning signs and
dengue
without warning signs.

Other reasons may be genetic factors, in which the person is more susceptible to complications, as well as age. It is well known that infants have a greater capacity for complication, due to a number of conditions that can create a combination of differences in presentation.

In addition to the traditional methods of stopping mosquito breeding sites, what should be considered for prevention?

Always emphasize the issue of eliminating mosquito breeding sites, but there are also valid measures such as the use of repellent to reduce exposure; the use of long clothing, where it is understood that there is a high density of mosquitoes, such as rural areas, or areas that may be exposed; as well as the use of mosquito nets. These are some of the most important preventive measures.

There is a vaccine, but it is not universally used.It has some lines where it is applied with a variety and diversity in the subject of the immunological response of the person. We understand that for our country all preparations are being made for it to arrive either this year or next year.

Is using insect repellent a safe method?

Indeed, the use of the repellent is safe. The components of current repellents are the most innocuous possible. There are campaigns, especially in developed countries, encouraging the use of repellent when traveling to areas of high endemicity. In fact, there are mosquito nets impregnated with repellent, and it is advisable to use it as well.

What are your recommendations for those people who have the virus and are looking for answers in home remedies and fake experts on the Internet?

People who have or suspect they have
dengue
and use these alternative methods as treatments, should keep in mind that many of these alternatives avoid timely and really effective treatment, such as hydration, which can lead to complications.

Not every time a person has a fever, it is due to
dengue
. The patient has to seek medical attention, in a hospital in his community, in a primary care center, his family doctor, a general or family physician or an infectologist who will assist him and who can confirm the diagnosis by means of some tests.

Diagnosis of dengue fever is not necessarily
dengue
must have a positive test, there is a clinical approach that is confirmed. Then, the physician can make that replay in the treatment.

It is preferable to avoid recommendations that appear on the Internet, as well as alternative medicine that does not help and possibly delays the patient’s time in receiving assistance, especially in children. On many occasions they delay in making the decision to receive medical attention and when they arrive either for emergency or consultation, they are already very dehydrated, with data of extravasation, lesions to several organs and can lead to a fatal outcome.