National Dengue Day 2024: How dengue fever is transmitted; know signs, symptoms and risks

National Dengue Day 2024: Dengue fever is a viral infection carried by mosquitos that occurs when an individual is bitten by an infected mosquito carrying the dengue virus. 

Every year, May 16 is designated as National Dengue Day. The day is marked to raise awareness of the condition and how to avoid it. 

National Dengue Day 2024: This year's theme for National Dengue Day 2024 is “Dengue Prevention: Our Responsibility for a Safer Tomorrow.”

National Dengue Day 2024: Signs and symptoms

Most dengue patients experience moderate symptoms for 1-2 weeks. Severe dengue, on the other hand, needs a hospitalisation for treatment. 

Here are some signs and symptoms of dengue fever.

• Severe abdominal pain
• Vomiting
• Rapid breathing
• Pale and cold skin
• Fatigue
• Restlessness
• Weakness
• Bleeding gums

National Dengue Day 2024: Risks

Various dengue virus strains increase the risk of severe, recurring illnesses. Immune response research is critical for vaccine development and population risk monitoring.

National Dengue Day 2024: First case of dengue

It is said that dengue started spreading rapidly after the Second World War. Due to the war, there was a lot of damage to the environment and many types of diseases started spreading. At the same time, hemorrhagic dengue fever was first seen in people. The first case of hemorrhagic dengue fever was reported in the Philippines in 1953.

By the 1970s, hemorrhagic dengue fever had become the leading cause of death among children. After this, it started preying on people in the Pacific region and America also. Dengue shock syndrome was first reported in Central and South America in 1981. In this way, the dengue epidemic gradually spread to many countries around the world.

National Dengue Day 2024: Fever transmission 

The Dengue virus (DENV) is typically spread from person to person by the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Humans are the principal host and source of the virus for female mosquitos, which acquire DENV through a blood meal from viremic humans. Mosquitoes become infected after an extrinsic incubation time of 8 to 12 days and can spread DENV for the remainder of their one-month lifespan.

"Because infection with DENV results in a high-titered viremia of approximately seven days, bloodborne transmission is possible through exposure to infected blood, organs, or other tissues, such as bone marrow. Unless blood is involved, DENV is not transmitted by respiratory droplets, saliva, or sexual contact," according to information available on the CDC website.